The recent gasoline spill on Interstate 94 ran into a storm drain, ultimately ending up in the Mississippi River several miles away. Thankfully, the appropriate agencies responded quickly to minimize the human and environmental impact, but the event reminds us of our personal connection to the river, regardless of where we live.

It's human nature to react to the larger, potentially catastrophic events and not give much thought to day-to-day activities that have similar consequences. If you live near a storm drain, you own riverfront property. Yet who normally considers that something spilled onto the highway in downtown Minneapolis will end up 5 miles away in the Mississippi River? Or that the same will happen to leaves swept into a storm drain in St. Anthony Park?

The Twin Cities metro area is home to what is arguably one of the greatest rivers in the United States. We all carry a great responsibility as stewards of the upper Mississippi River. Every street drain in St. Paul ends at either the Mississippi River or Lake Como; consequently, everything dropped in the street is literally being dumped in a park.

Hundreds of plastic bottles, along with all the other trash, are launched into the river with each rain event. Runoff containing fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides and many other obnoxious -- and noxious -- substances is sent downstream in the river (which provides drinking water for 18 million Americans), harming plant and animal life along the way.

"This spill is a very unfortunate reminder that, especially in urban areas, everything we do on the land has an impact on the Mississippi River," said Whitney Clark, executive director of Friends of the Mississippi River. "From lawn fertilizer to pet waste to tanker spills, it all drains to our beloved river and everyone downstream."

This accident reminds us that the Mississippi River catches everything we drain within its watershed, good and bad. We have a great river, a national park, in our back yards, and it needs attention and protection.

Paul Labovitz is superintendent of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.