"With the arrival of spring, many freshwater streams in the Chesapeake Bay region will experience spikes in salt levels — coming mostly from the salt used to treat roads during winter, still working its way toward streams with spring rains.

And while efforts are underway across the region to reduce harmful salt in freshwater streams, research shows that salinity continues to rise.

John Jackson, a senior research scientist at the Stroud Water Research Center in Pennsylvania, said rock salt is now part of the water cycle. And even where it doesn’t flow directly into streams, it seeps into the earth and reaches groundwater and aquifers.

While plants and animals closer to Chesapeake Bay, especially in its more southerly reaches, have evolved to tolerate salty water, those in freshwater rivers and creeks have not. Any increase in salt can make it difficult for fish to regulate the salt in their body. For humans, salt can reach drinking water sources, contributing to heart and kidney diseases. The compound also corrodes infrastructure and increases toxicity of other contaminants.

To combat the problem, states and local jurisdictions in the Bay watershed are trying to reduce the use of road salt, and community groups are urging private property owners to do the same.

But it’s a challenge. Removing salt from your soup is already difficult. Removing salt from drinking water at a large scale is even more difficult — and much more expensive. Fairfax County Water Authority in Northern Virginia estimated it would cost over $1 billion to desalinate the drinking water it treats. . ."