Why are the waters polluted or impaired?
There are two types of pollution: point source and nonpoint source. Point sources are pollution sources that discharge effluent directly into the stream. An example would be cooling water from a factory discharged into an adjacent river. Effluent limitations are set by WPDES (Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permits. Many water quality impairments in Wisconsin waters are due to nonpoint source pollution. Nonpoint sources include: agriculture, forestry, construction sites, urban runoff and more.
