Balancing Safety and Sustainability: The Environmental Impact of Road Salt

January 24, 2025| Environment

By: Holly Odgers

Each winter, roads, sidewalks, and driveways turn white not just from snow but from salt. While road salt is important for safety, it comes with a cost to the environment. Excess salt washes into lakes, rivers, and groundwater, harming aquatic life, polluting drinking water supplies, and damaging infrastructure. Winter Salt Week (January 27–31) raises awareness about road salt's impact and promotes actionable steps to protect freshwater ecosystems like Lake Hopatcong. Encouraging responsible application and proper storage helps reduce pollution, balancing winter safety with environmental health.

The Environmental Impact of Road Salt

When snow and ice melt, dissolved salt from roads, parking lots, and walkways runs off into nearby water bodies, raising chloride concentrations. Elevated chloride levels can be toxic to aquatic life, disrupting ecosystems and degrading water quality. Additionally, chloride does not easily dissipate, leading to its accumulation in lakes, rivers, and groundwater over time. This persistent contamination poses long-term risks to drinking water sources and harms wildlife, underscoring the need for responsible salt use to mitigate these effects.

For a more in-depth look at how road salt harms the environment, check out this article from the Columbia Climate School.

Salt Monitoring on Lake Hopatcong and Around the State

To track the impact of road salt on freshwater streams and lakes, the New Jersey Watershed Watch Network launched the NJ Salt Watch Monitoring Program in December 2020. Since its inception, hundreds of volunteers have gathered thousands of chloride measurements statewide. At the Lake Hopatcong Foundation, we coordinate salt monitoring volunteers who sample and share data from seven key locations around the lake. You can see a map of all testing locations and data here. This data is essential for assessing the scale of the road salt problem, guiding conservation efforts, and equipping municipalities with insights to improve salt application strategies.

What You Can Do

Here are four simple actions you can take to make a difference.

1. Shovel Early and Often - Clearing snow manually before it compacts or freezes minimizes the need for de-icing products. The less ice on your pavement, the less salt you’ll need to apply.
2. Explore Alternatives - Salt isn’t always necessary. If you’re dealing with temperatures below 15°F, traditional rock salt (sodium chloride) won’t work effectively. Use alternatives like sand or coffee grounds for traction or a calcium magnesium acetate-based deicer, which is gentler on the environment. (EPA Deicing Guide)
3. Beware of oversalting - A little salt goes a long way. Apply only the necessary amount to treat your driveway or walkway. A 12-ounce mug is sufficient to treat a 20-foot driveway. Leave about three inches of space between salt granules. Oversalting doesn’t improve safety and only adds to pollution.
4. Sweep Up Excess Salt - After a storm, collect leftover salt on driveways and sidewalks instead of letting it wash away. It can be reused for the next storm or disposed of properly.

2025 Winter Salt Week Webinars

During Winter Salt Week 2025, a series of webinars will be offered to educate and engage the community. Topics include:

• January 27, 1:30 PM & 7:30 PM: An Eye on Salt Pollution – Introduction to road salt issues and the national Salt Watch project.
• January 28, 1:30 PM: Dilution is NOT the Solution – Discussing the ecological consequences of elevated salt levels in freshwater.
• January 29, 1:30 PM: Smart Salting Strategies for NJ Municipal Road Managers – Overview of strategies to reduce road salt use. Pre-registration requested.
• January 30, 1:30 PM: Policy Solutions Panel – Discussion on policy and regulatory solutions to oversalting.

These webinars are free and open to the public. Registration details and schedules can be found at wintersaltweek.org

Protecting our freshwater ecosystems from the harmful effects of road salt requires collective effort and informed action. By participating in monitoring programs and adopting smarter salting practices, we can keep our environment safe while staying secure on the roads this winter.