GregHey Norb,
That run off is called Nonpoint Source Pollution. We have the same problems as the Chesapeake Bay here in NJ with Barnegat Bay. Once a great supplier of crabs/clams/oysters/fish, it is a dying body of water. It is also loosing it's eel grass beds due to the increased algae growth from the increase in nitrogen in the water run off. The algae steal the oxygen from the water and block out the sunlight making it difficult for other species to survive. Without the eel grass beds young fish have nowhere to hide from predators and fewer fish live to maturity and thus never exit the bay and join the ocean fish populations which decreases the entire biomass of fish stocks.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
Regards,
Greg B)
Boston Harbor up until recent years was like what you describe like Barnegat Bay, it was not even fit to swim in. Today it is a different story, much of the aquatic life is returning and is still in the transition to total recovery. Why? 6 billion dollars was spent on treatment facilities and storage systems to collect the nonpoint and sewerage pollution into huge megamillion gallon underground storage tanks. When the runoff from roads and property used to go directly into the harbor it polluted it. Now it is all pummped into humungus treatment plants that separate the solids and polutants before releasing the water into the bay. The byproduct of the treatment system is a biodegradable fertilizer. There is hope for Cheasapeak Bay, but it is going to cost a bundle.
Hoistingman4