DuPage Rivers | Enhancing Water Quality

Fall Leaf Collection Protects Rivers and Streams

Leaves are a big topic of research when it comes to water quality issues coming from residential neighborhoods in the fall. Rainwater leaches nutrients from leaves lying in the street, creating a kind of “leaf tea.” The nutrient-rich leaf tea then flows down storm drains and into local streams. The nutrients from leaves, especially phosphorous, cause algal blooms that lower oxygen levels in the stream–less oxygen makes it harder for fish and aquatic insects to live there. The U.S. Geological…

Enrich Your Soil with Fall Leaves and Leaf Mold

July 10, 2020

Dupage Rivers

Conservation@Home, Pollutants

Leaves, like all organic materials, contain nutrients. The nutrients in leaves hurt our local rivers but help our lawns and gardens. This is because nutrients encourage plant growth. In streams, excess nutrients cause oxygen-depleting algae to grow, which hurts the fish and insects that live there. In your yard, these nutrients are beneficial since they fertilize plants you want to grow, like grass and garden vegetables. When it rains, stormwater draws the nutrients out of the leaves similar to a…