The Nonpoint Source Management Program plans and implements
activities designed to prevent or remediate urban and other
nonagricultural nonpoint source pollution in Texas waters.
What Is Nonpoint Source Pollution?
Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution results when small amounts of
contaminants from a large number of sources are carried by rainfall
runoff into streams, lakes, or bays. For example, pollutants may be
washed off lawns, construction areas, farms, or highways during a
heavy rain and carried to a nearby creek. Nonpoint source pollution
is difficult to control because it comes from the everyday
activities of many different people, such as fertilizing a lawn,
using a pesticide, or constructing a road or building.
In contrast, pollution from point sources comes in large amounts
from a single source, such as an industrial operation or a
wastewater treatment plant. Pollution from most point sources is
controlled through regulations that require treatment of a
facility’s wastewater before it is discharged into a nearby
lake or stream.
Pollution can alter the integrity of water in one or more ways:
chemical, physical, biological, or radiological. Impairment occurs
when the rate at which pollutant materials entering water bodies or
groundwater exceeds their natural capacity to assimilate them.
The large number of nonpoint sources and the fact that they are
difficult to regulate make the voluntary efforts of citizens,
businesses, service organizations, and other groups an essential
part of the effort to address NPS pollution in Texas.
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The Watershed Approach
Protecting our water resources from the impacts of nonpoint
source pollution is a complex challenge. Texas uses a watershed
approach as its water quality management strategy to protect and
restore water quality on a watershed basis. A watershed is the
total geographic area that drains storm water (and pollutants) to a
particular stream, lake, aquifer, or other water body. The
watershed approach examines and addresses water quality concerns in
each water body in the context of its watershed and all the
potential sources of pollution the watershed contains. The
watershed approach operates under four principles:
- Diverse, well integrated partnerships;
- A specific geographic focus(watershed);
- Action driven by environmental objectives and by strong science
and data; and
- Coordinated priority setting and integrated solutions
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Management Program
This document describes the programs and management practices
that the state plans to use to manage nonpoint source (NPS)
pollution in Texas.
Texas Nonpoint Source Management Program, 2005
Texas Nonpoint Source Pollution Assessment Report and Management
Program, 1999
Draft BMP Finder
The Draft BMP Finder is a supplement to the Best Management
Practices (BMP) section of the Texas Nonpoint Source Pollution
Assessment Report and Management Program. This document provides
cross-references to standard terms, descriptions, technical
guidance, and implementation considerations for NPS BMPs. The BMP
Finder will be published with the management program and may be
updated periodically. This document is available for review by
selecting one of the links below.
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