By Jacque Day
Jackson Purchase Region, Ky. – A local conservation group will receive federal funds to help with water quality efforts. The Jackson Purchase Foundation gets $174,000 to help reduce nonpoint water source pollution. Maggie Morgan is the basin coordinator for the Four Rivers Region and works for the Foundation. She says point source pollution comes from a known source, like a pipe, discharging into a stream. Nonpoint source pollution is harder to trace.
"It's runoff that comes from the land. As rainwater or any kind of water runs over the land, it picks up all of the contaminants that the land contains and washes into the stream."
The grant will help fund the Foundation's outreach efforts. Morgan says they work with community groups, agencies and businesses, to educate the public about pesticides and other everyday-use substances that pollute the sediment.