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Glossary
Algal bloom - a rapid increase in the population of algae usually phytoplankton algae
in an aquatic system. Algae, like any other living organisms, needs oxygen to flourish. This
rapid increase consumes much of the dissolved oxygen (DO) in water that most living species
in water needs.
Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) - a measure of the oxygen used by microorganisms to
decompose this waste. If there is a large quantity of organic waste in the water supply,
there will also be a lot of bacteria present working to decompose this waste. In this case,
the demand for oxygen will be high (due to all the bacteria) so the BOD level will be high.
As the waste is consumed or dispersed through the water, BOD levels will begin to decline.
Dead Zone - a large, hypoxic area in ocean water, for example in the Gulf of Mexico.
Ground Level Ozone - also called smog is created by chemical reactions between oxides
of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the presence of sunlight. Emissions
from industrial facilities and electric utilities, motor vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors, and
chemical solvents are some of the major sources of NOx and VOC.
Haber Process - an artificial process to fix nitrogen gas into nitrogen fertilizer.
Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) - A harmful algal bloom (HAB), also known as a red tide,
is a population explosion of toxic nuisance algae that cause a negative impact to natural
resources or humans.
Hypoxia- also known as oxygen depletion, is a phenomenon that occurs when the dissolved
oxygen (DO) in water is at its critical level.
Impervious surface - a surface that is non-porous, ususally covered with blacktop, concrete,
etc., and does not allow water to penetrate.
Non point source (NPS) pollution - is a pollution that occurs when rainfall, snow melt,
or irrigation carries natural or man-made pollutants and deposits them into rivers, lakes, coastal
waters, and ground water.
Pervious surface - a surface that is porous or permeable that allows water to penetrate.
Point-source pollution - comes from wastewater discharged from pipes of industrial facilities
and municipal sewage treatment plants into rivers, lakes, coastal waters, and ground water.
Red Tide - is a brownish-red discoloration of marine waters caused by an algal bloom of
certain microscopic dinoflagellates. It produces toxins that accumulates in the tissues of shellfish,
making them poisonous when consumed by humans.
Run-off - water that flows over the land into a waterbody. Often this water contains pollutants
and sediments that can impare the waterbody.
Smog - also called ground level ozone is created by chemical reactions between oxides of
nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the presence of sunlight. Emissions from
industrial facilities and electric utilities, motor vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors, and chemical
solvents are some of the major sources of NOx and VOC.
Urbanization - the increase over time in the population of cities in relation to the
region's rural population.
Watershed - the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of
it goes into the same place.
Watershed boundaries or divides - locations where watershed separates from other watersheds.
A large watershed is composed of smaller watersheds.
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