9 replies to this topic

[greenking]

40% of America's rivers are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life. =(

[iebo]

Do you have a source? That figure seems a little high. I'd like to know what kind of pollution they were testing for and what levels they deemed unsafe for recreational activities. Did they test all of the rivers in America? Or just ones that were of a certain size?

[still learning]

"What's your reaction to this?"

greenking, on 03 February 2012 - 09:38 AM, said:

40% of America's rivers are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life. =(

My reaction is to ask for clarification, amplification.
What rivers?
What standards, especially the "aquatic life" bit.

Should I have a vision of the Cuyahoga River amplified many times? (the river that caught fire )http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Or merely that it would be imprudent to drink the water straight out of the river?

[Shortpoet-GTD]

I'll pretend to be a repub for a minute and say-"nonsense, they're all pristine, clear and healthy; that's
why we need to eliminate the epa. They didn't help them become pristine, corporations did."

[13tyates]

I feel that amount may be a little high. Any link to a source? If this is true they must be using levels that are at certain levels others would not consider too high. I think its sad no matter the percent that we have to deal with so much pollution. We need to reverse these problems if we want to save our planet.

[Mike_Hollis]

40% sounded pretty high to me too, but it looks like it comes from the EPA's National Water Quality Inventory in 1994.

The latest inventory report in 2004 updated that figure with these statistics:

"In 2004, states reported that about 44% of assessed stream miles, 64% of assessed lake acres, and 30% of assessed bay and estuarine square miles were not clean enough to support uses such as fishing and swimming."

(New to the forums, so can't post links quite yet, but a google search of "national water quality inventory 2004" brings up a PDF of the report as the first result. Those statistics are in the opening "Fact Sheet".)

[zararina]

greenking, on 03 February 2012 - 09:38 AM, said:

40% of America's rivers are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life. =(

If there would be article/research/study link the better to know more about it. If its true, it was really alarming and sad fact. Not only in America but also in other part of the world as more and more body of water are being polluted for the sake of industrialization and because of the people itself.

[mariaandrea]

Mike_Hollis, on 06 February 2012 - 09:16 PM, said:

40% sounded pretty high to me too, but it looks like it comes from the EPA's National Water Quality Inventory in 1994.

The latest inventory report in 2004 updated that figure with these statistics:

"In 2004, states reported that about 44% of assessed stream miles, 64% of assessed lake acres, and 30% of assessed bay and estuarine square miles were not clean enough to support uses such as fishing and swimming."

(New to the forums, so can't post links quite yet, but a google search of "national water quality inventory 2004" brings up a PDF of the report as the first result. Those statistics are in the opening "Fact Sheet".)

Thanks for that. Here's the link:

http://www.epa.gov/o..._305breport.pdf

And, holy cow, that report is eye opening. I've saved it to read in depth - I just skimmed it. I'd be curious to know if anything has improved at all in the last 6 years. It's a biannual survey but 2004 is the last one posted. Even if there has been improvement it probably wouldn't be dramatic. And here's how the ratings work:

Quote

▪ Good if they fully support all their designated uses;
▪ Threatened if they fully support all uses, but exhibit a deteriorating trend; and
▪ Impaired if they are not supporting one or more designated uses.

Just for example: Of the 23,435,665 acres of lakes, ponds and reservoirs in the US, 39% were assessed for the report. Of those, 33% are good and 64% are impaired and 1% is good but threatened.

Also, of the 2,969,250 miles of rivers and streams, only 16% or 563,955 miles, were assessed. 53% were good and 44% were impaired.

So the 40% figure in the OP is a little simplistic, but probably not that far from the truth. Granted, not every lake or mile of river or body of water was assessed, but it's probably a good sampling overall. Read the report.

Also, here's the link to the site to look at reports for other years, plus all sorts of EPA reports and resources:
http://water.epa.gov.../305b/index.cfm

[hunysukle]

This is very disturbing. I read the other day that most fish - including Salmon and Sardines - are becoming unhealthy to consume due to water pollution. Unfortunately, many people don't care about keeping our oceans clean, but rather care more about their personal interests (money). Once our oceans and rivers are polluted, it will be difficult if not nearly impossible to restore them.

[kat74]

If we were talking about rivers from where I come from, then may be I would say yes because they are.