| Element | Specific Issue | Comments | Possible Solutions from Toolbox |
| Water Quality | Land Use | As development continues, existing land use laws must be followed if we are to have reliable supplies of clean water in the future. | - |
| - | Temperature | High water temperatures are harmful to the health of fish and other life in the rivers because they reduce the ability of water to hold oxygen. | - |
| - | Point sources | Large plants, factories, mills, etc. can emit pollution in big chunks that can damage sections of land (and groundwater) or waters. | - |
| - | Non-point sources | Harder to control, these are smaller, everyday sources of pollution such as storm drains, oil/grease, sewage, pesticides, fertilizers, and dirt and silt. | - |
| - | NPDES (national pollutant discharge elimination system) permits | Permits are required in order to dump certain substances into water bodies. Many of these permits have expired and many dumpers don't have permits, both of these are bad for the quality of our water. | - |
| - | TMDL (total maximum daily load) | Total amount of pollution (of different types) that a given water body can handle and still be healthy for fish and people (after treatment). | - |
| - | Stormwater | Heavy rains can wash pollution into streams, back up sewage treatment systems, and wash sediment into rivers. | - |
| - | Water Quantity | The amount of water in the ground or in a river affects the quality - having more water helps because it dilutes pollution and lowers the temperature of the river. | Water storage |
| - | Sediments | Dirt, silt, and other particulates that get washed into streams harm water quality (when water is cloudy it cannot hold as much oxygen and gets warmer). | - |
| - | Habitat | Fish habitat is helped by good water quality. This includes cool temperatures and clear water so fish can build nests in gravel. | - |
| - | Groundwater vs. surface water quality | Groundwater is often connected to surface water, so the quality of one affects the quality of the other. Surface water is impacted more by stormwater, while groundwater is affected by leaky landfills and other underground dumps. | - |
| - | Saltwater Intrusion | When freshwater runs low, salt water gets into aquifers and upsets the balance. | - |
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