Peruque-Piasa Watershed
Peruque-Piasa Watershed
A Watershed is an area of land that catches rain and drains into a stream. You are in a watershed right now! Homes, forests, and even big cities can make up a watershed. One of our local watersheds is called the Peruque-Piasa watershed. Our watershed spans across 6 counties and two states. One of the streams in this watershed is Peruque Creek. Peruque Creek runs from Wright City to the Mississippi River and is the only stream that feeds into Lake St. Louis.
Why are watersheds important?
The health of a watershed directly affects the health of a stream. How the land and water is used in areas that are not even close to the stream will affect water quality and habitat. Everyone lives in a watershed, therefore everyone effects the health of streams every day.
What causes watershed to become polluted?
One of the main causes of pollution is illegal dumping of waste. Adbandoned trash, discarded appliances, and othe debris can be found along the stream. These illegal dump sites are not only an eye-sore, but can cause contamination of streams as well. Another source of pollution is storm drains. Storm drains are sometimes misused for the disposal of paint, motor oil, antifreeze, peticides, and other waste. People are looking for an easy way to dispose of these items and are often not aware that storm drains lead to our main water sources, like streams and ground water. In addition, each time it rains, water run off carries litter, yard debries, pet waste and other pollutents into storm drains. This type of pollution is a significant soucre of contamination for Missouri's water resources.
