The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claims that chemical and animal waste runoff from factory farms is responsible for over 173,000 miles of polluted rivers and streams. Runoff from farm land is a devastating threat to the water quality of our streams and rivers. Agricultural activities that cause pollution include confined animal facilities, plowing, pesticide spraying, irrigation, fertilizing and harvesting.  It would be better for the environment if we could farm more organically ,as even the farming of  vegetarian foods  when farmed intensively can cause water pollution . Switching to a vegetarian diet will help keep our waters cleaner however as the meat industry causes more than it’s fair share of pollution for the amount of food it produces, partly due to all the animal feed that must be grown. The meat industry require far more land to be farmed and therefore far more water polluting chemicals to be used.