Fear of Our Water
By Emma Rippe
Have
you ever questioned drinking tap water? I realize that I never have, but the
article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette might make you think twice. In “Wildlife: Toxic algae blooms not likely in
Lake Erie's waters near Pennsylvania,” by Scott Shalaway, Lake Erie, Ohio, had an outbreak of blue-green
algae that made water undrinkable for several days.
Our very own Lake Champlain is full
of living organisms, from fish to plants to algae, but what if those were all
to be covered up? What beauty would there be to admire? Do you ever find yourself
swimming in the lake, spending the summers having fun on North Beach or in Oakledge
Park? What if you could no longer engage in those activities because you feared
getting sick from the water?
Unfortunately some of Lake Champlain
is being covered by “pond scum,” also known as blue-green algae (cyanobacteria),
a bacterium that gets its energy from photosynthesis. The algae creates a
blue-green veil over the top of a lake, slow moving river, or pond, causing the
production of toxins, water discoloration, and decrease of its access to light
and oxygen. Such complications lead to a destabilization of marine life as
their environment is being compromised.
Now we ask, what
is causing our waters to be like this? Well, phosphates are the cause of this blue-green
algae bloom. One may believe that it is natural and that nature might be
causing this to occur, but in reality, us, people, our community is the
catalyst to the damage. Phosphorous is the chemical compound PO43-,
and is contained in farming fertilizer, detergent, pesticides, matches, and
cleaning products. Thus, phosphorus enters our ecosystem from the run-off of roads,
soil, and underground waters.
Lake Champlain has blue-green
algae growing in it, like most lakes do. Wind and waves can push the scum around,
meaning their conditions can change over the course of just one week. Though it
seems ugly yet harmless, it posits real danger for humans and animals; according
to Department
of Health Agency of Humans Services Vermont, “During the summer of 1999, the death of two dogs was attributed to
blue-green algae poisoning after drinking large amounts of contaminated water
directly from Lake Champlain.” In regards to its implications on humans, it
causes symptoms such as vomiting, fever, stomach cramps, diarrhea, blistered
lips, and throat sore according to Health Link British Columbia. Would you want to risk yourself to that
sort of harm or put your pet in risk of death?
The presented information then begs the most
realistic question of what exactly is the state of contamination in Lake
Champlain? Based on Vermont Blue-Green Algae Tracker, there are certain areas that we should be
concerned about in Champlain that are marked as “high alert,” meaning it has
been seen in the area to the date now (November 9th 2014) and mainly
“low alerts” or “generally safe” areas all around Champlain. According to Department of
Health Agency of Humans Services Vermont: The main parts of the Lake are:
(based on October 2014 reports)
North – Mostly good conditions
reported, but low alert conditions reported in various areas. The Long Point
area including the marina in Charlotte is experiencing a substantial bloom.
Central – Good conditions reported.
No reports of blooms. This area is considered generally safe.
South – Mixed conditions
reported. Anyone active on the water or along the shoreline should be alert for
and avoid contact with blue-green algae blooms and accumulations.
One
must also consider the current season; blue-green algae presents itself mainly
in summer, ranging from early sightings as early as May, and an increase in the
peak heat of June to August.
Tackling
the questions of how can we help and what precisely is Vermont doing about this
issue, the Lake Champlain
Committee talk about the projects they have created to have a cleaner lake,
including “Pushing for
boat holding tank laws to make dumping boat waste illegal on the lake,” “Lobbying
for sewage treatment upgrades and phosphorus removal at wastewater treatment
plants,” “Supported Best Management Practices for farms and the adoption of
nutrient management plans to reduce phosphorus loading from agriculture.”
Personally, I believe their efforts so far are tangible and they have a true grasp on the great
lake’s situation.
Wanting to know the community’s
thoughts, I spoke to Zach Johnston, a biology student at Saint Michael’s College
class of 2017, and he told me that he was learning about phosphorus in one of his
biology classes right now. Curious to hear his perspective on the matter, he
agreed that the phosphorus levels were too elevated and real actions must be
taken to bring the levels to a more acceptable level.
I continued to ask what he
thinks the biggest causes of phosphorus are, and he described that there are
two types of sources: point (one point that can point to and say that it is
causing pollution) and nonpoint (a source that can be something that one can
tell is causing pollution). He says water treatment facilities and industrial
discharges are examples of a point source of phosphorus and that agriculture or
urban runoffs are examples of nonpoint sources. He brings up “The majority of the pollution in Lake
Champlain (90%) comes from nonpoint sources, the two major causes of this bring
urban runoff and agricultural runoff, with 46% coming from urban land runoff,
and 38% coming from agricultural runoff.” I think that Johnston brings up a
logical point that most of our pollution is from the precipitation runoff from
rain and snow.
In response to the question of short- and
long-term solutions, the student said that temporarily, individual citizens of
the surrounding area could do their part with the example of “a garden doesn’t
need to be fertilized every year” (in response to pesticides). As for long-term ways of helping our
lake, Johnston believes governmental and legislative involvement is necessary
to enact in-state laws given that the majority of phosphorus comes from
nonpoint sources; one place to start is the implementation and regulation of
more sustainable farm practices, as pesticides is a substantial part of the
nonpoint causes.
My final question for my interviewee was what he
thinks our community can do to help prevent the amount of phosphorus going into
our lake; he says that if one is interested then they should write to the
representative to help pass legislations to create a way to prevent the
problem.
After interviewing biology student
Zach Johnston, I thought about some of the questions myself, and I agree with
his thoughts. I share his opinions on how the community can contribute to
dealing with this environmental issue. A great way of helping out with this is
by reporting a sighting of blue-green algae, which could help prevent people
from getting sick, and even saving an animal’s life. I personally
believe that we do need to bring government in to help prevent those “nonpoint”
sources of phosphorus from getting worse.
Overall we
can only do the smallest actions to help prevent the phosphorus levels from
getting worse, but all the small actions can make all the difference. The only
way to help us from being able to feel safe about swimming, bringing our dogs,
drinking water, and bringing your family to Lake Champlain or any lake, is by
making a small actions, like reporting sights of blue-green algae, getting
others to recognize the problem, or getting legislations past. Recently in
January 2012, the Act No. 37 (H.26) is the law regulating phosphorus
application to turf in Vermont, was passed, which “The act prohibits the application to turf
of fertilizer with a phosphate content of greater than 0.67 percent by weight
(essentially "0"), except when turf is deficient in phosphorus as
shown by a soil test or when fertilizer is labeled as starter fertilizer
intended for application to turf in the first season when grass is being
established.” (Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and
Markets) Our actions and
words are making all the difference; we are progressing to make our lake
cleaner and making our world a better place to live in. Maybe our generation
will never have to fear their children getting sick from the water they swim in.
