Runoff from livestock facilities can contribute to which issue?

• A. Increased soil porosity
• B. Water carrying waste into the environment
• C. Reduced fertilizer value
• D. Decreased livestock stress

Answer: (B)

Runoff from livestock facilities primarily causes water pollution by washing manure, urine, and waste into nearby streams, rivers, and groundwater. This introduces high levels of nutrients (like nitrogen and phosphorus), organic matter, pathogens, and sometimes antibiotics into the environment, which can lead to problems such as algal blooms, oxygen depletion, and contaminated drinking water. Those are the everyday consequences that make water quality the central issue here. The other options don’t fit as directly: runoff doesn’t typically increase soil porosity, and while nutrients can be lost from fields, the main focus is the contamination of water; fertilizer value isn’t the immediate concern of runoff from facilities; and livestock stress isn’t affected in this context.