The Clean Water Act took effect 40 years ago Thursday. In 1972, stormwater pollution was nowhere near a top priority. Today, it’s taken the lead as the top water contaminator. How bad is it? Puget Sound diver Laura James takes us where nobody wants to go — inside a stormwater outfall — to get an upclose look.
How We Got Into Such A Mess With Stormwater
![Diver exploring outfall drain in Puget Sound](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/de5761f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/380x214+0+0/resize/880x496!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fkuow%2Ffiles%2F201210%2Fstormwater.jpg)
OPB Photo/Michael Bendixen