Roadside trash and litter is carried by rainfall runoff through the storm drain system into local streams and eventually into the Potomac River. Most local streams in the County flow into either the Potomac or the Anacostia River (the Anacostia flows into the Potomac River also). Trash in streams and rivers is unsightly and unhealthy.

The Department of Environmental Protection is pursuing an aggressive policy to control trash in streams, because it is sound fiscal and public health policy to prevent trash from polluting the County's primary source of drinking water, the Potomac River.