Groundwater is the primary source of drinking water in the watershed. The drinking water quality is threatened by polluted water moving quickly into the aquifer. An aquifer is a collection of wet, underground rocks that allows water to pass through it slowly. Land use activities in areas with vulnerable aquifers impacts the safety of our drinking water.

The water quality in streams and rivers is threatened or impaired by pollutants entering the water and from the movement of pollutants already in the water. Land use, human activity, invasive species, and extreme weather patterns impact the health of our streams and rivers.

Development that removes native landscapes and install impervious surfaces along and near shorelines threatens the health of streams, rivers, and lakes and their associated corridors. 

The water quality in lakes is threatened or impaired by pollutants entering the water and from the movement of pollutants already in the water. Land use, human activity, invasive species, and extreme weather patterns impact the health of our lakes.

The amount of groundwater in the aquifers changes as water is withdrawn for use as drinking water, irrigation, and industry, and as water enters the aquifer through recharge areas in the landscape. As the population grows, more water is withdrawn or removed from the aquifer and as land is developed important recharge areas are removed which causes decreases in the amount of groundwater.

A lack of programs that educate and engage community members to learn about water issues and to learn how to care for our water resources threatens our ability to achieve our shared goals for the watershed. 

Culverts, ditches, and tile systems are important to safely move water to protect people and property, especially croplands in rural and agriculture communities. While the primary purpose is to drain water, at times pollutants will travel with water to our surface waters.

Wetlands are an important natural resources that stores water, filters pollutants, and provides habitat. Wetlands are threatened by excessive pollutants and runoff that can degrade the wetland. Wetlands are also threatened by removal due to land development.

Natural areas, forests, prairies, and wetlands providing habitat and other ecological benefits, and the species that inhabit them, are threatened by human activity.

As water from rain and melting snow moves across the land it either soak into the ground or travel across the landscape or runoff until it reaches a surface water. Land development for buildings and some agriculture practices has reduced natural water storage and increased the amount of water runoff which can cause damaging erosion and flooding. 

The rural areas of the watershed are important for agricultural productivity which depends on farmland with healthy soils. Soil health is threatened by urban development of farmland, soil loss due to erosion, and practices that limits the ecological functions of soil.

With increased urban development, the 
amount of impervious surfaces increases, increasing 
stormwater runoff rates and yielding impacts to water quantity 
and quality.