Reduce stormwater runoff, plant rain gardens.

What's the water like where you swim — not the temperature, but the quality? An annual report released by NRDC, Testing the Waters concluded that beach water quality is not improving across the country. Not only does every coastal state suffer from polluted and contaminated beaches, but those problems resulted in more than 20,000 closing and swimming advisory days in 2008 alone.

Storm water runoff is one of the major causes of beach pollution, which we can help prevent through simple changes around our homes. Cities such as Burnsville, Minnesota are encouraging residents to plant rain gardens, often hardy, native species planted in depressions that collect rain water as it runs off your driveway, rooftop and other areas. By modifying the curbside, rain gardens can help divert rainwater from streets. For help planting your own, see Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

For other ways to reduce stormwater runoff, click here and here. Also, check out this NRDC slideshow with examples of communities across America cleaning up their water – and saving money – with low impact development. For more, see what these Smarter Cities are doing to protect water quality: Burnsville, MN, Norwalk, CT, Kansas City, MO, Ann Arbor, MI, Santa Monica, CA and Denver, CO.