Nonpoint Source Rain Gardens

Runoff Nutrients
Watershed Sediment
Monitoring Pesticide
Conservation Fertilizer
Environment Xeriscape
Water Riparian
Pollution Erosion
Low Impact

A N O N P O I N T S O U R C E
N P U L O W I M P A C T I O P
L T S T N E M I D E S W P R A
O W A T R N B K C M L E A A C
N A F D U I Y F F O N U R I S
O T E W O T E R B W T N I N I
I E R Y L P M N R G C D A G R
T R T P O L L U T I O N N A E
A S I E M S T D W S R I F R X
V H L S K B W K J U R S L D N
R E I T C T U A S O I M R E O
E D Z I P L V O T A W Z H N I
S E E C M F H I R E D L M S S
N E R I A N N K G P R H P M O

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution, unlike pollution from industrial and sewage treatment plants,
comes from many diffuse sources. NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving
over and through the ground.
Runoff is the movement of land water to the oceans, chiefly in the form of rivers, lakes, and
streams. Runoff consists of precipitation that neither evaporates, transpires nor penetrates the
surface to become groundwater.

A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into
the same place.

To monitor or monitoring generally means to be aware of the state of a system, to observe a

situation for any changes which may occur over time, using a monitor or measuring device of some
sort. 

Conservation The act of conserving; prevention of injury, decay, waste, or loss; preservation:
conservation of wildlife; conservation of human rights. 2. Official supervision of rivers, forests, and
other natural resources in order to preserve and protect them through prudent management.

Environment (biophysical), the physical and biological factors along with their chemical
interactions that affect an organism or a group of organisms. Environment (systems), the
surroundings of a physical system that may interact with the system by exchanging mass,
energy, or other properties.

Water a clear liquid, without color or taste, that falls from the sky as rain and is necessary for animal
and plant life:

A rain garden is a garden which takes advantage of rainfall and storm water runoff in its design
and plant selection. Usually, it is a small garden which is designed to withstand the extremes of
moisture and concentrations of nutrients, particularly Nitrogen and Phosphorus that are found in
storm water runoff.

A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream.
Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the fifteen terrestrial biomes of the
earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks are called
riparian vegetation, characterized by hydrophilic plants.

"xeriscape" is derived from the Greek "xeros," meaning dry, and "scape," a kind of view
or scene. Together, xeriscaping is landscaping with slow-growing, drought-tolerant
plants to conserve water and establish a waste-efficient landscape.

Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of

weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water,
or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particles.