Bad news for the Eastern Idaho’s Yellow Cut-Throat Trout, for they are becoming scarcer and scarcer. The culprit, crops and resort gardens along with their insatiable need for water to keep them growing. Runoff from farms are also becoming a problem for the run-off which is usually rich in nitrogen fuels the explosion in growth of blue green algae such as the case with the Gulf of Mexico. Nitrogen is a naturally occurring and present element that under normal circumstances is dealt with by bacteria and other micro-organisms in streams as they head to rivers and then seas. Too much, and the natural control and filtering system of these bodies of water diminish in effectivity resulting in too much nitrogen-rich water reaching the seas causing “Dead Zones” near the mouths of these river outlets.
In Montreal, Canada the problem is also attributed to too much nitrogen this time from golf courses that need green lawns to continue and attract customers. Previously rich waters are now turned into brackish rivers and streams that cannot support normal fish and plant life due to insufficient oxygen in the water. This might be one of the problems that were not anticipated by the clamor for such immediate solutions such as alternative fuel production.
It seems more education is needed for the balance between commerce and eco-friendliness would become a true reality for man has a lot to learn while he continues to poison the very earth that gives us all life. Let us just pray that we have enough resolve to initiate change before it is too late.
Originally posted on April 13, 2008 @ 7:31 pm