Why is nutrient pollution bad?

Nutrient-rich water triggers massive algae growth in our waters. If you’ve seen ponds or lakes that look chunky, green, and stagnant, then you’ve seen nutrient pollution.
This rapid algae bloom can take over lakes and rapidly deplete oxygen levels in the water. Without oxygen, all other aquatic life is choked out.
Some types of algae contain toxins that can poison pets and make people sick. Three dogs died on the same day in Wilmington, NC this summer after swimming in a pond that was polluted by toxic algae.
Waters that would be teeming with life are reduced to “Dead Zones,” not only in our Missouri lakes, but also compounded over the entire Mississippi River Basin to become a Dead Zone the size of Massachusetts.
The same nutrient pollution that runs off into our lakes can also accumulate in private well water/drinking water supplies and cause particular harm to infants (nitrates and Blue Baby syndrome).