Tag: nitrates

Water for Peace, Water for Life

Water is Life, we must do a better job of protecting our waters.

World Water Day March 22, 2024 is the United Nations observance day dedicated to highlighting the importance of freshwater. It serves as a reminder of the critical role water plays in our lives and ecosystems. 

 “Water for Peace” is this year’s theme. fostering peace, prosperity, and conflict prevention in the role water plays in the world.

It is shameful the poor job we do to take care of our fresh water. Our fresh waterways are teaming with microplastics, nitrates and forever chemicals. None of these safe for human exposure. In some places invasiive speciaes have been introduced that also change the entire ecosystem of our water ways.

73 percent of Minnesota nitrate pollution comes from cropland, primarily through agricultural drainage systems below cropped fields and by nitrate pollution leaching into groundwater, and then moving underground until it reaches streams. 78% of nitrate pollution to the Mississippi River in our state is fr…See more on fmr.org

At least 70 million Americans get their water from a system where toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” were found at levels that require reporting to the Environmental Protection Agency. That’s according to new data the EPA released in its ongoing 5-year review of water systems across the nation. The number will almost certainly grow as new reports are released every three months. USA Today, March 21.2024

Careless humans have transported invasive plants and animals with their boats and equipment. Invasive species disrupt aquatic ecosystems, endanger native species, and have far-reaching consequences that harm the eco-system of waterways.

Microplastics in Water: Threats and Solutions

Things are out of balance as we have allowed industry and farmers and all of us the right to pollute our waterways. We can all do better!

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.14387

https://extension.psu.edu/nitrates-in-drinking-water

https://fmr.org/minnesota-nitrate-study-highlights-farm-runoff-pollution

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/22/1106863211/the-dangers-of-forever-chemicals

What are a few things you can do to protect our waterways?

1. Always clean your boats and equipment before entering lakes.

2. Pick up litter

3. Keep the storm drains near your home free of leaf debris and plastic waste.

4. Reduce the plastic you use, and always make sure your plastic waste is in the correct place, either recycling, landfill waste or hopefully to be reused again.

5. Plant deep rooted plants that absorb water runoff, like native grasses and native plants.

6. Create rain gardens or adjust your drain spouts to drain onto your lawn or gardens.

7. Never use artificial turf for landscaping!

The Mighty Mississippi

Leaves pollute our waterways!
Leaves pollute our waterways!

What we do to our land, we do to our river”  John Stein MPCA Commissioner

The Mississippi River, one of the longest rivers in the world begins in Minnesota and flows south into the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River cuts the United States in half, into the east and the west.  An investigative report by the Minneapolis Startribune.com. reveals the environmental threats to the Mississippi River caused by agricultural pollution  and urban run-off. Many communities use the Mississippi River as their source of drinking water.  If we are polluting this great river at the head waters what is the future for all of us, and for the wildlife that also uses this river?  What is the future of the Gulf of Mexico as the Mississippi River carries pollution during its journey south?  What will be the state of drinking water through the middle of the United States?

We all need to do better.
We all need to do better.

The storm drains on my street drain into the Mississippi. What we do on the land affects the Mississippi River.  As a trained water steward, I am encouraging urban dwellers to manage the run-off from their yards in a smarter way.  There is a new paradigm. Instead of getting the water off our land we are looking for ways to use water run-off by redirecting our gutters and down-spouts, and building rain gardens to capture the rainfall.

Not using chemicals, sweeping our sidewalks and streets, re-directing our down-spouts, building rain gardens, picking up trash, and recycling are just a few things the urban dweller can do to help the Mississippi River.  Agricultural interests are another thing, and they need to do their part. Part 3 of this series focuses on farmers along the Chippewa River giving hope:

“Raising the amount of land planted in such perennials by just 10 percentage points — from 24 percent to 34 percent of the Chippewa watershed’s 1.3 million acres — would be enough to tip the river from polluted to clean.

Some 25 landowners now participate, and if they can prove its premise — that a farmer can make money without polluting the Chippewa — they could be a model for protecting threatened rivers all across the Midwest.” Read part 3 report here.

A fun video on building a rain garden: