According to a recent assessment by the Environmental Protection Agency, the rivers and streams in the United States are still heavily polluted with nutrients, resulting in contaminated drinking water and a large dead zone for aquatic life in the Gulf of Mexico.

This issue is challenging and primarily affects rural areas that flow into the Mississippi River. According to the agency, over 50% of the river and stream miles in this basin have been deemed to have inadequate levels of nitrogen and phosphorus due to fertilizer runoff. Attempts have been made by government officials at both the federal and state levels for many years to manage this type of pollution from farms, which is not typically under federal regulation.

The issue is projected to become increasingly challenging to manage due to the effects of climate change, which result in more severe storms and greater precipitation in the Midwest and South. This excessive rainfall causes flooding in agricultural areas, leading to the transport of commercial fertilizers into nearby rivers.

Olivia Dorothy, director of river restoration for American Rivers, expressed concern over our failure to reach our established goals.

The evaluation relies on samples taken in 2018 and 2019, enabling specialists to compare the state of rivers to previous samplings, despite the use of different locations for sampling. The agency takes several years to gather the data and publish the report, which provides an extensive assessment of the health of rivers and streams in the country. Phosphorus levels showed a slight decrease while nitrogen levels remained nearly unchanged.

Approximately 50% of the total length of rivers were determined to have unfavorable conditions for snails, worms, beetles, and other species that reside at the bottom of the river. These organisms are crucial in determining the biological well-being of the river. Additionally, around 33% of the river miles were assessed as having insufficient conditions for fish, based on the variety of species present.

“Managing pollution is a significant responsibility, requiring a lot of effort,” stated Tom Wall, the director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s division for restoring, assessing, and protecting watersheds. “Despite the immense challenges our water systems face, the situation is not deteriorating. However, we hope to see even more advancements.”

The government usually regulates water pollution caused by factories and industries. Recently, the Biden administration suggested making the regulations for meat and poultry processing plants stricter in order to decrease pollution, according to Wall.

Nutrient pollution entering the Gulf of Mexico leads to the proliferation of oxygen-consuming bacteria. This results in the formation of a “dead zone” – a large expanse where marine life struggles to survive. According to Louisiana State University’s Professor Nancy Rabalais, this zone can vary in size from that of Rhode Island to New Jersey.

This has an impact on the efficiency of profitable fishing and overall marine life, but nutrient pollution also has negative effects upstream. Excessive levels of nitrate in drinking water can alter the transportation of oxygen in the blood, resulting in health issues such as headaches, nausea, and abdominal cramps for humans. Infants are particularly vulnerable and may experience “blue baby syndrome,” where their skin appears blue.

In the late 1990s, the EPA created the hypoxia task force with the goal of decreasing nutrient pollution and shrinking the dead zone. However, progress has been limited as the task force relies on voluntary measures to reduce farm runoff, resulting in minimal impact on the dead zone.

Anne Schechinger, the Midwest regional leader of the Environmental Working Group, stated that instead of relying on voluntary actions, there is a necessity for new regulations. While acknowledging the efforts made by the Biden administration to enhance drinking water, she believes more needs to be done to decrease agricultural runoff.

Strategies for reducing runoff involve constructing barriers between agricultural land and bodies of water, establishing additional wetland areas to purify contaminants, and using less fertilizer.

This is a highly contentious topic, particularly in large farming states in the Midwest that play a significant role in exacerbating the issue. Despite claiming to have implemented voluntary conservation programs, these states have shown minimal improvement according to the latest EPA data.

Minnesota is among the limited number of states that enforce a “buffer law,” mandating the growth of vegetation along rivers, streams, and public drainage ditches. However, due to the close relationship between groundwater and surface water in the Upper Midwest region, nutrients can still contaminate streams by seeping underground and bypassing the buffers. This was stated by Gregory Klinger, an employee of the Olmsted County Soil and Water Conservation District in Minnesota.

It is important to prioritize the prevention of excessive fertilization. According to Brad Carlson, an extension educator at the University of Minnesota who engages with farmers regarding nutrient pollution concerns, approximately 30% of farmers continue to apply fertilizer in quantities that exceed the recommended levels for their fields.

Martin Larsen, a farmer and conservation technician from southeast Minnesota, shared that he and fellow farmers are eager to adopt methods that can lower their nutrient pollution. To do so, he has altered his usual corn and soybean rotation by incorporating oats and medium red clover, a type of plant that can naturally boost nitrogen levels in the soil. As a result, he has been able to reduce his fertilizer usage by half for his corn crop following a clover planting, compared to a continuous corn rotation.

Planting oats and red clover as cover crops has the added benefit of improving the quality of soil. However, for farmers who prioritize immediate profit from their crops, it can be challenging to make space for these cover crops. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2017 statistics, only 5.1% of harvested farmland is used for cover crop planting.

Larsen proposed that in order to encourage better practices, there should be additional efforts made as regulations are not well-received. For instance, he suggested companies could alter the feed given to animals and allow farmers to grow crops that require less fertilizer. Government programs could also provide more support for practices such as cover crops.

He stated that numerous farmers in his local area recognize the necessity for change. “However, we also feel confined by the system,” he expressed.

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Chicago was the location from which Walling reported.

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Connect with Melina Walling on X: @MelinaWalling.

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The Walton Family Foundation provides funding for the Associated Press to report on water and environmental policies. The AP is solely responsible for the content of their coverage. To read more of the AP’s environmental reporting, please visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.

Source: wral.com