Where are the acidified lakes and streams located?
According to the National Surface Water Survey, about 14 percent of the lakes larger than 10 acres in the Adirondack Mountains in New York are chronically acidic. About 12 percent of streams are acidic in the mid-Atlantic Highlands (which include southeaster New York, most of Pennsylvania, and portions of Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia) and the mid-Appalachians (which include Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina). Other affected areas include Florida and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In addition, many lakes and streams through the United States are sensitive to episodic acidification. The Canadian government has estimated that 14,000 lakes in eastern Canada are acidic, in part because of sulfur dioxide emissions from U.S. utilities and industrial plants.
