Every Halloween, cities come alive with haunted houses, eerie fog, and ghostly decorations. But beneath the cobblestone streets and rain-soaked gutters, a real horror is brewing, one that doesn’t vanish when November arrives. It’s called contaminated stormwater runoff, and it’s silently poisoning our neighborhoods like an invisible curse.

When the federal government shuts down, it isn’t just a matter of locked doors and furloughed employees. For the vast ecosystems of our national parks and the watersheds they sustain, the impacts can be far-reaching, long-lasting, and quietly destructive.

When rain falls, it feels like a fresh start; streets glisten, air clears, and the world seems cleaner. But what happens next tells a different story. Every storm sets off a chain reaction called stormwater runoff, a process that quietly damages ecosystems, worsens floods, and wastes an essential resource.

Water is life, but for millions of people in the U.S., clean, safe water still isn’t guaranteed. Aging pipes, outdated systems, and pollution have left too many communities behind.