Second Paragraph: The regulatory world divides pollution that adversely affects water quality into two types; point source and non-point source. Point source pollution is literally what comes out of pipes into bodies of water, such as sewer lines, storm-water outlets, and industrial dumping. Non-point source pollution is any pollution that cannot be traced back to a ‘point’. Much of agriculture’s contribution to impaired water quality is through non-point source pollution, for example, from fertilizers and pesticides that get into surface or ground water, or sedimentation from soil erosion.
