GLOSSARY 



Anadromous fish: Fish that spend their adult lives in the sea but 

 swinn upriver to freshwater spawning grounds to reproduce. 



Benthic organism: A form of aquatic plant or animal life that is 

 found on or near the bottom of a stream, lake, or ocean. 



Best management practices (BIVIPs): Methods or techniques to 

 control nonpoint source pollutants from being washed into water 

 bodies. 



Carcinogenic: Cancer producing. 



Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO): In a wastewater collection and 

 treatment system where domestic and industrial wastewater is 

 combined with storm runoff, a pipe discharges overflow when the 

 system cannot handle the increased capacity caused by 

 stormwater runoff. 



Designated uses: Under the Clean Water Act, projected uses of 

 a water body (e.g. industrial, contact recreation, coldwater fishery). 



Dissolved oxygen (DO): The oxygen freely available in water. 

 Dissolved oxygen is vital to fish and other aquatic life and for the 

 prevention of odors. Traditionally, the level of dissolved oxygen has 

 been accepted as the single most important indicator of a water 

 body's ability to support desirable aquatic life. Secondary and 

 advanced waste treatment are generally designed to protect DO in 

 waste-receiving waters. 



Head of tide: Landward limit of tidal influence within an estuary. 



Eutrophication: The slow aging process during which a lake, 

 estuary, or bay evolves into a bog or marsh and eventually disap- 

 pears. During the later stages of eutrophication, the water body is 

 choked by abundant plant life as the result of increased amounts 

 of nutritive compounds such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Human 

 activities can accelerate the process. 



Marine biota: All of the living material in a marine area; often refers 

 to vegetation. 



National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES): A 



provision of the Clean Water Act which prohibits discharge of 

 pollutants into waters of the United States unless a special permit 

 is issued by EPA or (where delegated) a state or a tribal govern- 

 ment on an Indian reservation. 



Nonpoint source: Pollution source which is diffuse and does not 

 have a single point or origin or is not introduced into a receiving 

 stream from a specific outlet. The pollutants are generally carried 

 off the land by stormwater runoff. The commonly used categories 

 for nonpoint sources are agriculture, forestry, urban, mining, con- 

 struction, dams and channels, land disposal, and saltwater intrusion. 



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