Why is dog poop bad for the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay?
A. Slower moving water, such as that found in the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay, is susceptible to “algae blooms” responsible for large-scale fish kills. When it rains, fertilizer, dog poop and other nutrient rich material gets carried into the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. This sudden, unnatural surge of nutrients causes a rapid explosion of the algae population, called a “bloom”. The bloom, which is near the water’s surface, blocks sunlight that is needed by other aquatic life. Additionally, when the bloom can no longer be sustained, it decays in an environmentally cataclysmic event that sucks all of the oxygen out of the water, suffocating and killing any fish that live there. Q. I don’t walk my dog near a stream. How does my dog’s poop get there? A. Streams in Arlington County are fed by storm drains. The system of storm drains and underground pipes is, essentially, the replacement for the smaller streams that existed in your neighborhood efore your neighborhood was
