5th issue 2026 kt #2

Land use

human use of land, represents the economic and cultural activities practiced in a given place.

What can land use changes effect?

air and water quality, watershed function, generation of waste, extent and quality of wildlife habitat, climate, and human health

Why is the EPA concerned about different land use activities?

Because of their potential effects on the environement and human health

2 primary areas of concern by the epa for land use

land development and agricultural uses

how do impervious surfaces contribute to nps pollution?

by limiting the capacity of soils to filter runoff

Other impervious surfaces effects

affects peak flow and water volume and heighten erosion potential, increase storm water runoff, and affect groundwater aquifer recharge

Point source discharges

From industrial and municipal wastewater treatment facilities can contribute toxic compounds and heated water

ROE

EPA’s Report on Environment

Effects of land development patterns

Increase air pollution due to vehicle uses - higher concentrations of certain air pollutants

Can lead to heat islands

heat islands

domes of warmer air over urban and suburban areas that are caused by the loss of trees and shrubs and the absorption of mroe heat by pavement, buildings, and other sources.

Agricultural land uses and water/watershed quality

types of crops planted, tillage practices, and various irrigation practices can limit the amount of water available for other uses, livestock grazing in riparian zones can change landscape conditions, runoff from pesticides, fertilizers, and nutrients from animal manure, loss of native habitats, spread of invasive species

Limitations of available indicators for trends about land use trends

lack of data, varying approaches to data classification and measurement, and difficulty in delineating land use.

What everyday driving habit contributes meaningfully to atmospheric nitrogen deposition int he Chesapeake Bay airshed?

Combustion of gasoline and diesel produces nitrogen oxides (NO), which return to land and water as wet or dry atmospheric deposition. The Bay airshed in around 570,000 square miles so emissions from Ohio, PA, VA, and beyond reach the Bay. Reducing vehicle miles (carpooling, transit, biking, walking) and choosing electric vehicles reduces this load.

A footprint calculator tells a Bethesda student their water footprint is 2,100 gallons per day. National average is around 2000. Why might that seem high for an individual whose direct water use is only around 80 gallons per day?

A person’s direct use of water is only a small fraction (around 5%) of their overall water footprint. Most water consumption comes from the clothing industry, food, electronics, energy, and other goods the student consumes, far from the household tap.

A high school student wants to reduce their personal NPS pollution footprint. Rank these four actions by likely impact, highest to lowest: a) switching to a plant-based diet, b) carpooling to school, c) using a reusable water bottle, d) shortening showers by 2 minutes

a) huge virtual water and nutrient runoff reduction. b) cuts NO emissions to the airshed, d) cuts blue water use and wastewater, c) small but real. All are worthwhile, diet usually dominates

If your personal water footprint includes the water used to grow soybeans for animal feed in Iowa, what NPS pollution problem in the Gulf of Mexico are you partly contributing to?

Dead zones. Soybean and corn farming in the Mississippi River basin is a primary source of the nitrogen and phosphorus runoff that creates the Gulf of Mexico hypoxic “dead zone”. Consumer demands for meat and animal feed sustains that agricultural footprint.

How does illustrating personal footprint connect KT2 (individual contribution to NPS) to KT3 (community action) in the Envirothon curriculum?

A personal footprint shows what one student does. Multiplied by 18.9 Bay residents, those individual contributions become the aggregate sources tracked at watershed scale. Community based solutions (KT3) bridge the gap: collective actions scale individual changes into measurable load reductions. The footprint is the unit; the community is the multiplier.

A coffee shop in Annapolis uses single-use plastic cups, lids, and stirrers. How does this contribute to NPS pollution in the Severn River?

Plastic litter from the shop and its customers gets dropped on streets and sidewalks, washes into storm drains during rain events, and enters tributaries. Plastic fragments into microplastics over time, which are now detected throughout Bay waters. Baltimore Inner Harbor’s Mt. Trash Wheel family ahs collected 1,608 tons of trash, with chip bags, plastic bottles, and polystyrene among the highest-volume categories.

How does a footprint calculator work and what is it used to teach?

A footprint calculator asks the user about diet, transportation, energy use, and consumption habits, then estimates the user’s annual water, carbon or ecological footprint by multiplying each input by published impact factors. It is used to make abstract environmental impacts personal and tangible - showing where a single person’s biggest leverage points actually are, often surprising users.

What is the EcoRise Water Footprint Calculator, and what is its educational purpose?

EcoRise offers an online water footprint calculator designed for classroom and individual use. It walks students through diet, transportation, indoor and outdoor water use, and consumption patterns to estimate their gallons-per-day footprint. The educational purpose is to convert abstract national water statistics into a personal number students can compare and act on.

Define water footprint and the three categories that make it up.

A water footprint is an assessment of water use that includes both direct use (wat you drink, bathe, water lawns with) and virtual water (water embedded in the goods and services you consume). The three categories are: Blue (surface and groundwater consumed), green (rainwater consumed), and grey (water needed to dilute the wastewater generated).

A family of four in suburban MD wants to cut their household water footprint by 25%. Where should they look first, and why?

Diet (especially red meat and dairy) usually offers the largest reductions because virtual water in food dominates household footprints. Lawn irrigation is the next-largest single residential use in warm months. Indoor water (showers, toilets, dishwashers) is third. Direct conservation of indoor water alone rarely reaches 25%; meaningful cuts typically require dietary changes plus efficient outdoor practices.

How can illustrating a personal NPS footprint be more motivating than describing watershed-level statistics?

Watershed statistics are abstract and feel beyond individual influence. A personal footprint locates the student inside the system - showing their specific contribution and the specific actions that would reduce it. This shifts the narrative from “someone else’s problem” to “my contribution, my leverage”.

Compare the blue, green, and grey water footprints by what each measures.

Blue water: surface water and groundwater consumed (evaporated or incorporated) to produce a good> Green water: rainwater consumed (evaporated or used directly) to produce a good. Grey water: freshwater required to dilute wastewater generated by production to meet water quality standards. Together they give a fuller accounting of water embedded in goods than direct use alone.

How can the simple act of washing a car at home contribute to NPS pollution and what is the alternative?

Washing a car in a driveway releases soaps, oils, grease, brake dust, and road grime directly into storm drains, which discharge untreated to streams. Commercial car washers are required to drain to sanitary sewers, where wastewater is treated. Alternatively washing on grass allows infiltration and biological infiltration before runoff reaches a stream.

List 5 categories of household chemical that should never be poured down storm drains or into the ground.

Motor oil, antifreeze, and other automotive fluids; paint, paint thinner, and solvents; pesticides and herbicides; pharmaceuticals; and household cleaners with bleach or ammonia. All should be taken to designated household hazardous waste collection.

Compare the long-term forest-loss rates between the agricultural era (18th-19th centuries) and the modern development era (1982-present) in the Bay watershed.

Agricultural era: 70-80% of the watershed’s original forest cover was removed by the late 1800s for firewood, fencing, and farmland. Modern era: forest is being lost again but to development - around 100 acres/day form 1982-1997, around 70 acres/day by 2006. The composition ahs also homogenized - modern “new” forests are more uniform in age, size, and species than the original pre-colonial forests.