Watershed: Annotated Bibliography

NTRODUCTION
The water body ‘St.Croix’ is a river which covers an area of 4271km2, and it flows along New Brunswick and Maine and acts as a water boundary between Canada and United States. “Because of its strategic location, the river has played a unique role in the history of Maritime Canada and the U.S. and remains important for these reasons today” (CHRS. 2007).

Picture 1 Source: http://www.ijc.org/rel/boards/saint/watershed_report_e.htm
Picture 2 http://www.naturetrust.nb.ca/wp/blog/conservation-planning-st-croix-river/

The picture shows the geographic position of St.Croix river watershed and the watershed itself. The St.Croix River has two main chains of lakes, east and west. The location of east branch lakes are along the border

Croix River watershed have reflected the importance the river plays in the development of the local economy, as the most populous areas have been located along the lower main stem of the St. Croix” (International Joint Commission Report). The size of the population, structure and distribution are the determining factors of the watershed health. So it is so important that to know about these factors as it influences the development of life and the area around. With the increase in population density along the river , the use of natural resources especially water increases for normal and industrial use. There should be a well established balance between land use, population density and social,economical and industrial development for conserving a healthy

“Carried by snow melt, rain water, and groundwater, NPS pollution contributes sediments, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), toxic substances, and pathogens to water bodies” (Maine Rivers 2005, ijc 2008). The Non Point Pollution generally due to stormwater in the downstream portion of the river; which are the most populated areas situated near the estuary;With the stormwater large amounts of pollutants are washed off to the river because of the impenetrable surfaces of that area which does not allow water to seep into the ground. Other sources of Nonpoint pollution are seepage from broken sewage and septic tanks, runoff from construction sites ,nutrients,sediments and chemicals from agricultural farms and roads. According to the report of International Joint Commission in 2008; “This untreated runoff may contain litter, dust, soil, oil and grease from roads, garden waste, chemicals, and nutrients and pathogens from animal feces and fertilizers” (IJC