- Industrial area along the Mississippi River
Clean, healthy waters are important to everyone. Waters of Illinois are needed for drinking, growing food, washing, swimming, fishing, and supporting amazingly diverse wildlife. Our overwhelming, but under-appreciated, dependence on clean water mandates our careful use and protection of our rivers.
We all live in a watershed. A watershed is an area of land that drains into a particular river or stream. So, if you were to go outside and pour your coffee onto the ground, where would it flow? Into a storm drain? Then where? Regardless of where you live, everything that flows from your yard, business, or farm ends up in a nearby stream. Literally thousands of pollutants find their way into Illinois rivers.
The things we do around our homes and communities every day makes a difference on the quality of our rivers because we all live in a watershed.