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).