All the recent rain has pushed some nasty pollutants into area washes, but you and your dog can reduce the problem in the future.
All that water flushes some of what shall we say your dog leaves behind into the huge network of channels that carries water into major waterways like the Rillito, Santa Cruz, or Pantano.
That puts E.Coli bacteria into the water, and that can make you sick.
Pima Environmental Quality Marie Light says "There's ponded areas, and if someone's playing in that ponded water. So there's always that exposure, and people never really think about where their animals remains and their waste flow down the river, I could go into the Santa Cruz river where it looks clear and clean, but and people are playing in the water. And that's where you would become exposed to it."
Pima County's Department of Environmental Quality says clean up after your dog, and make sure your car is not leaking any fluids because that will send dangerous chemicals into the washes.
