Use your lawn to trap rainwater, save money, and produce cleaner water.

As more and more blacktop covers our land, increased runoff of contaminated water threatens our rivers and streams.

RODALE NEWSROOM, EMMAUS, PA—The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs to make radical changes to its stormwater system if we want fishable and swimmable waters in this country, according to a new report from the National Research Council, a branch of The National Academy of Sciences. The report charges that rapid development in urban and suburban areas—and the associated paved roads, parking lots and roofs—are causing huge amounts of water to rush off the surfaces and into storm drainage systems that lead to streams and rivers. As a result, motor oil, gasoline, garbage, and chemicals from roadways and lawns wind up in your water and overwhelm water treatment facilities, which could mean higher water bills.

THE DETAILS: The EPA asked the National Research Council to look over its current stormwater system. They found that most urban stream areas are degraded, that some treatment plants can’t handle the high loads of sewage and runoff water, and that erosion is melting away topsoil. The report found that the best way to stop and reverse damage to water bodies is to move away from political boundary systems that govern water management and instead allow different municipalities along streams and creeks to work together. That way, they can better monitor how much stormwater is winding up in streams. The main focus, according to the report, should be on keeping rainwater and melted snow in the ground rather than rushing into streams and rivers. That way its chemical contaminants will be naturally filtered.

WHAT IT MEANS: Many cities were designed to deal with heavy rain runoff and sewage in the same system. That may have worked years ago, but with population and property development skyrocketing, those old systems are having trouble handling the double duty. The good news is, you can ease the problem by taking control of your own lawn.

No matter where you live, you can keep streams healthy if you: