Mississippi River Watershed Essay

In the academic journal written by Ronald A. MacGillivray the purpose was to find out information about the Delaware River and how polluted it is. The research was done over a four-year period to find out if lethal toxins were coming out of tributaries (MacGillivrary et al., 2011). The research was done by a sampling procedure. The researchers would go out into the field and collect samples on a weekly basis depending on the weather to see how the toxic levels in the river were from 16 different locations (MacGillivrary et al., 2011). At the end of the four years that the research was taken the results were conclusive that the tributaries that led into the Delaware River were found to be at normal toxic water level rates (MacGillivrary et al., 2011). The pollution levels found were normal with a few exceptions depending on the water content of the day (MacGillivrary et al., 2011).

Turner, R. Eugene, and Nancy N. Rabalais. "Linking Landscape And Water Quality In The Mississippi River Basin For 200 Years." Bioscience 53.6 (2003): 563. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 May 2016.

Imagine an Earth devoid of clean rivers with no inland marine life or readily available freshwater. This situation may arise if humanity does not volunteer to end its polluting tendencies. Initially, each individual should focus on taking steps towards decontaminating his or her nearest water body. For those living in Delaware, this is the Delaware River, which is in need of drastic reform. “The Delaware River . . . is the fifth most-polluted river in the country, according to a report released . . . by Environment New Jersey” (Augenstein). However, this obstacle did not arise spontaneously. A recognized problem by the early eighteenth century, Delaware River pollution remained a serious issue for the next 300 years and mostly stemmed from rapid population growth and booming industrial activities (“Delaware River Water Quality”). As the years progressed, Delawareans continuously disregarded the Delaware River, and it is now immensely besmirched as a result of accumulating neglect for the river. Because of this, Delaware waters continued to befoul past the threshold of safety. Delaware waterways are currently unsafe for commercial use due to the presence of pollutants and parasites like Giardia and Cryptosporidium in the river that can cause significant health problems, especially in individuals with weakened immune systems (“Delaware”). The polluted Delaware River, sullied by companies despite the Clean Water Act, may cause a decline in Delaware’s’ marine life, human

Let’s start out with the pollutants in this water. There was a surprising amount of pollution found downriver of Sioux Falls, the largest city in South Dakota. It makes sense that more pollutants would be coming from more heavily populated areas, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is harming all those around it. It is thought that a lot of this pollution is coming from the city waste

Toxins in the water contribute to problems of the river because of the many times back in the day when businesses dumped their waste into the river and till today isn’t not yet cleared. Another problem of the Chicago River is that the public has to interest and don’t take any access towards the river because the river is fenced and some people still remember the awful stinky smell and the black color. The purpose of this field trip was to go test the different chemicals that are in the water and the health of it and see what can be found in it. The field trip lets people know what kind of biodiversity is around the river or in the river to see and determine the health of the river to see what contributes to what the state the river is in

This year I went on a field trip to the Conodoguinet Creek. This creek runs into the Susquehanna River and drains 500 square miles of diverse landscapes. Conodoguinet comes from an indian word meaning “a long way with many bends.” It begins near Carlisle at North Middleton Park and comes to an end in West Fairview, when it flows into the Susquehanna River. The Conodoguinet Creek is about 90 miles of bends and loops that meander throughout Cumberland Valley. When I went on this trip, I tested how fast the water was moving downstream. I also tested the creek for the acidity and eutrophication. Eutrophication is excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to fertilizer runoff from the

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

Background (1 ¶): What is the Duck Creek Watershed? What problems is it facing? What is being done so far to remedy these problems? Who is working on this problem?

On April 6th 2013, our Biology II lab evaluated the health of two freshwater streams in the Denver area. Both creeks flow to the South Platte River but are situated in different environments (urban and suburban) which cause variance in biotic and abiotic indicators of stream health. The presence or absence of bioindicators is dependent on the water chemistry. Through the study of stream health, we can gain insight on the stress that humans cause to freshwater habitats. I think that Bear Creek is healthier than Cherry Creek because it is in a less urban environment and is less affected by human influences. If the

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 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.

We live in an age where most environments on earth have been impacted by anthropogenic activities. For thousands of years, humans have been a natural component of ecosystems across the globe (Chapin et al, 2011). Human-environmental interaction contributes to processes that affect fluvial environments. For example, impervious surfaces are ubiquitous in urban areas; these anthropogenic surfaces reroute runoff (among other things), which can ultimately impact the morphology, water quality, vegetation, and floodplain soils of a local watershed, if it is near an urban area. Regardless of the anthropogenic presence throughout environments across the globe, ecological benchmarks can be set—physical, chemical, and biological—regarding what constitutes a healthy, natural environment. These parameters are important factors in ecological remediation activities and synonymous with the term “reference condition.” Based on a spectrum of watershed conditions—ranging from reference to

A group of future biologists and I ventured through Beaver Creek and wrote down observations. We had found that the bank of the creek was eroded. We found invasive species such as Persicaria Longiseta and the English Ivy. We observed a lack of animal activity besides numerous mosquitoes and one salamander. In a section of the water there was a large amount of oil changing that section orange. The runoff system seemed obsolete and all the storm water from the parking lots would drain directly into Beaver Creek. We took a water sample two weeks later. Our water sample was slightly biased because we had taken it in a different location then where the obsolete design occurred. Water temperature was 16 C⁰. We did not find a significant threat or dangerous chemical levels of Nitrate, Nitrite, pH, Alkalinity, and chlorine. We did find our water hardness to be high. The area did test positive for having bacteria like Ecoli, Salmonella, Shigella, Enterobacter, Kliebsiella, other Coliform and non-coliform bacteria. The area also tested positive for pesticides atrazine and simazine.

The basin is dealing with low water levels that are polluted from the agriculture sector that surrounds the area. It houses 11 fish species, native

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