Brazos River Basin

Many contaminants settle out of the atmosphere, such as acid rain, the pollutants and nutrients will transport from distant places by air depositing into the lake as the form of rain. The first pollutants as atmospheric deposition on the Great Lakes were phosphorus. It is found that about 20 percent phosphorus entering Lake Michigan comes from the atmosphere by determination of rain, snow and dust. Since phosphorus pollution generated by this approach cannot be controlled, so it is more urgent to reduce the phosphorus content of detergent, sewer and effluent fertilizers. People found fish in a lake of Lake Superior in a remote island containing PCBs and toxaphene, and this place isolated with no direct way to pollution. This determines the long-range transport of pollutants through the atmosphere and settlement in the lake. In fact the processes of material transport through atmospheric was very complex. For instance PCBs was insoluble in water, so as to re-enter the atmosphere during evaporation or connected together into small particles. A lot of PCBs volatilize from the lake, meanwhile, PCBs coming from various parts of the air mass experience the sedimentation on the lake. Other than that the contaminated sediment is another way to cause pollution of the lake. This is problems of the most urban industrial areas. Even if there is likely to remove severely contaminated sediments in

Could the resultant qualitative and quantitative properties of the polluted water have been predicted with chemistry? [2]

Richard Smith, Richard Alexander, and M.Gordon Wolman, Water Quality Trends in the Nation's Rivers. 235 Science 1607, 1987.

I infer that the water quality was affected more by other factors. The two sites with about the same amount of human activity were McKinney Falls State Park and Bulls Creek. On the other hand, Wild Basin swimming is not allowed. Our results showed that the order from greatest to least amount of nitrate and phosphorous concentration was Bulls Creek, McKinney Falls, and Wild Basin at the lowest. Hence, because Bulls Creek was had the high amounts of human activity and nitrate and phosphorous levels, this relates

The Maumee River Basin is an important aspect of our communities. Water is important to our everyday life. Pope Francis calls us to examine our lives and becomes aware of the many issues being faced on our earth. It is important to establish a relationship with creation. The first step in doing so is becoming informed and acting. This semester we focused one of the several issues affecting us globally as we’re as locally. The issue that I decided to learn about was the local issue on flooding. In Fort Wayne and surrounding in the 1845’s the great flood. The great flood killed a family of 6. Floods are local issues that are not focus on. In the

Bioindicators of stream health include blackfly larvae, caddisflies, and algae. The presence of blackfly larvae indicates sewage pollution. Caddisflies indicate higher  O2 concentrations. The presences of algae can indicate different things. If algae is absent, there may not be enough nutrients to support its growth. Thick algae indicates eutrophication.  Previous studies by the Colorado Department of Health Water Quality Control Commission in 1981 show comparable amounts of dissolved  O2 as well as pH, nitrite, and nitrate levels in both Cherry and Bear creek. The  NH 3 levels were much higher in Cherry Creek at .10 mg/L compared to Bear creek where the  NH 3 levels were at .06 mg/L (Colorado 1981). In today’s society, it is important to find a balance between preserving the natural ecosystem and accommodating the wants, needs, and desires of the humans who affect it. (Meyer 1997). Pollution is inevitable but should be considered and kept as low as reasonably achievable.

Texas has had periods of drought as far back as 1534 based upon the tree ring evidence. However, water laws in Texas are such that the groundwater is governed by ‘absolute ownership’, and thus the exclusive property of the landowner. For most residents, they rely on municipal water supplies which are drawn from surface water alone. It is equally the quantity and quality of that surface water which is critical to the population of the state. This is especially true for the population of the East Fork watershed (EFW, aka Region C), whose population continues to slowly increase, and where water demand had already exceeded supply by 2010. [1] Based on publications and website data from the USGS, EPA, the Texas Water Development Board

The preliminary report outlined a partnership plan modeled after the Chesapeake Bay Program. Although major differences exist between the Colorado River cleanup project and the Chesapeake Bay reclaim project, the fundamental principles of a successful program are similar. The final report delivered to Governor Napolitano is a detailed look into the major pollutants contained in the river system. The Alliance detail seven pollutants devoting a chapter to each one, including an action plan for dealing with the pollutant individually. The six pollutants covered are nutrients, metals, endocrine disrupting compounds, perchlorate, bacteria and pathogens, salinity/total dissolved solids, and sediments and suspended solids.

The Great Lakes, though fairly clean, are contaminated with some deadly chemicals that have slipped by human filtration into the lakes. These emerging chemicals have been determined to pose some health risk to humans and surrounding ecosystems and are used by society, but are unregulated or inadequately regulated retardants (Miller-Branovacki, Lindsay, "Water Resources and Urban Waste Water (Week #8)"). More specifically an emerging contaminant is one which is not historically widely distributed, nor a concern, however are now persistent and bioaccumulative making them a concern for the environment. The three major categories for emerging contaminants are; endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), Pharmaceutical and personal care

The St. Johns River is suffering from a significant environmental disaster because of toxic substances from municipal and industrial wastewater, fertilizer runoff, failing septic tanks, and stormwater. Consequently, over 55% of the river miles, 80.4% of acres of large water bodies, 59.4 % of estuaries, and 31.4% of coastline miles do not meet water quality standards in Florida (Florida Department of Environmental Protection 119). For that matter, studying those pollution problems that the river faces is vital since one can use this information to salvage the natural resource which is at the brink of destruction.

The Cape Fear River Basin is one of the four river basins completely contained within North Carolina, and is over 9,164 square miles. Cape Fear’s quality ranges from 35% of the streams contained in this basin considered to be threatened and 18% to be impaired by pollutants. Many toxic spills throughout the years have been one of the main causes to the low quality.During the last 5 years, investigators have reported 43 different incidents, which resulting in about one million fish being killed. The Catawba River Basin begins on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains and flows east into Lake Wylie on the North Carolina-South Carolina border, ranging to 3,285 square miles in size. The Catawba river contains the most major dams of any North Carolina river. This river basin was named after the first tribe that settled in its banks. Today, the Catawba is the most densely populated river basin in the state, and is home to large variety of species that are very unique are rare. 16% of Catawba’s basin is impaired from polluted runoff from agricultural activities, construction, and stormwater. Agriculture and home or road construction are typical sources of sediment pollution. Several of the Catawba lakes are showing stress from excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus in runoff. In small amounts they are beneficial, but to much can trigger algae blooms. These can affect the taste of water and odor and

Contaminated sediments are a significant problem in the Great Lakes basin. To reduced the discharge of toxic and persistent chemicals to the Great Lakes we must concentrations of contaminants in the bottom of rivers and harbors and have to raised considerable concern about potential risks to aquatic organisms, wildlife, and

All around the world, countries are fighting to keep their drinking water clean. Whether it’s streams, rivers, or lakes, countries have taken great measures to maintain high quality drinking water for both human consumption and animal consumption. Countries must first understand the sources of the polltion, then determine the best methods to eliminate the pollution. Clean drinking water is a valuable resource and a the key to human survival. Plants and animals also depend on water for their growth, so all water must be kept clean. The major contributors to water pollution can be classified in three categories, industrial, agricultural and municipal.

The largest source of contamination is runoff from land. Toxic runoff can be sewage, rainwater flowing over exposed topsoil, flooding or agricultural runoff. Rain can cause runoff of chemicals or waste that can seep into creeks, rivers and other waterways that lead to the ocean. Some of the chemicals found could be antibiotics or waste from animals, pesticides from crops or from pollutants, originating in the air, which have settled on land and washed away. Unless a solution to pollution runoff is found, this type of contamination will continue indefinitely and contribute to the deterioration of the ecosystem in the

Interactions between groundwater and surface water are complex. Consequently, groundwater pollution, sometimes referred to as groundwater contamination, is not as easily classified as surface water pollution.[7] By its very nature, groundwater aquifers are susceptible to contamination from sources that may not directly affect surface water bodies, and the distinction of point vs. non-point source may be irrelevant. A spill or ongoing releases of chemical or radionuclide contaminants into soil (located away from a surface water body) may not create point source or non-point source pollution, but can contaminate the aquifer below, defined as a toxin plume. The movement of the plume, a plume front, can be part of a Hydrological transport model or Groundwater model. Analysis of groundwater contamination may focus on the soil characteristics and site geology, hydrogeology, hydrology, and the nature of the contaminants.