Answer:
You just posted his one? Credit to: Vermont Legislative Research Shop
Explanation:
If you need extra resources: Lawn and garden chemicals, such as fertilizers enter the groundwater in two ways. In the first method, the chemicals can enter the groundwater by rainwater into a stream as runoff. This is especially problematic in urban environments where hard-surfaced roads allow rainwater to move over them without benefit of soil acting as a filter (Rosen and White, 1999). The water in streams replenishes groundwater, so the chemicals are absorbed into the groundwater as well. The second method of contamination is through leaching, which is the downward movement of a substance through the soil. The fertilizer may also dissolve into the surface water, which recharges the groundwater (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 1996). Nitrate is highly soluble and readily leaches into groundwater. Water with over 10 parts per million nitrate-nitrogen can cause methemoglobinemia, an inability to use oxygen in infants. The nutrient phosphorus harms clear, free water by creating algal blooms. This process, known as eutrophication, turns the water green, clouds the water, causes odor problems, and depletes the oxygen for fish and other species, effectively suffocating them (Lake Champlain Basin, 1998). To ensure that the groundwater does not get so contaminated as to be unhealthy, in 1986 the Department of Food and Markets implemented the Pesticide Monitoring Program. The goal of this program is to test wells in agricultural areas to help farmers learn about practices that prevent pesticides from leaching into the groundwater, and to conserve the nutrients in fertilizers and manure in the soil. This program is funded by fees taken from companies that sell pesticides and fertilizers in Vermont (Vermont Department of Agriculture, Food and Markets, 1998).
