An article by Diane Huskinson titled “The Trouble with Salt” at the Stroud Water Research Center explains the dire problems caused by road salt in our area. And let’s not think the problem is confined to snow season; in fact continued runoff of residual chemicals keeps salinity high in summer, when warmer temperatures make salt even more toxic to aquatic organisms. Stroud has a program for monitoring the quality of local streams. See the article for more info and links.

Our municipalities need to solve this problem, since they are the ones putting the great majority of the salt into our streams. Rain gardens and green infrastructure such as retention basins can help by absorbing harmful chemicals like salt; and also of course even better is reducing salt use, especially in low-speed byways like alleys. See more on road salt here and at our component group Don’t Spray Me! here and here.