Wisconsin Nature at Home: Everyone as Conservationist

The Mississippi River starts in one of the 10,000 lakes of Minnesota. Lake Itasca is one many lakes which speckle the maps of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Other lakes in the Upper Midwest are larger (Lake Winnebago), deeper (Green Lake), but this small glacial lake marks the start of the 4th largest watershed in the world with water from 32 states draining into it.

The Mississippi runs from the North of the Continental 48 States and flows to it's South, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. It practically splits the nation in two. It starts like many other less remarkable rivers and streams in Minnesota and Wisconsin and grows into a behemoth as other mighty rivers flow into it. Waters from the west flow into the Missouri, crossing the plains states and spilling into the Mississippi's muddy water carrying with them dirt and debris from as far away as Montana. The Ohio River runs southwest out of Pennsylvania and converges with the Mississippi just south of Illinois carrying with it any pollutants it snagged along Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky.

In short, most of the rain which falls or toilets which are flushed between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains eventually flow into the Mighty Mississippi.

For a whole lot of Americans, no matter which watershed you live in, you are ultimately tied to the Mississippi River which means you are also tied to the Gulf of Mexico.

In the previous post, I touched on localized flashed floods within our own watersheds and what actions property owners can take to help reduce flash flooding. All of these same methods apply when talking about recurrent flooding as seen along rivers like the Mississippi.

And this makes sense. If reducing localized flooding takes everyone in a neighborhood making different choices to prevent local floods; then it also means every watershed needs to make better choices to prevent rivers flooding downstream. Rivers experiencing recurring hundred year floods is at the very least just the downstream net effect of many watersheds struggling with flash flooding. In other words if a million watershed eventually empty into the Mississippi, and million watersheds are struggling with flooding then naturally the Mississippi is also struggling with flooding.

The impact of recurring flooding is felt most heavily by river communities like those in Western Wisconsin.

Beyond recurring flooding, the Mississippi is also emptying into an increasingly growing dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Similar to the toxic algae blooms we experience in the lakes in our local watersheds, the dead zone is conceptually similar on a grander scale.

In our lakes, nutrient-rich waters, largely full of fertilizers from agricultural or lawn application which run off into the watershed, feed the local algae blooms. Now imagine collecting run off from across the Great Plains, the Midwest, and the South and funneling it all into a single river which flushes into the ocean at the Gulf of Mexico.

In the gulf when the algae blooms die off and are broken down by bacteria, oxygen in the gulf is depleted. Aquarium owners know the importance of keeping your tank oxygenated so that your fish can breath (and may even install bubblers when necessary). The same concept is true of fish in the ocean; without enough oxygen in the water life can't survive. No little fish to eat, means no big fish, and no big fish means no other stuff like sharks, whales, dolphins or even sea-faring birds.

The Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River are a clear and present example of how our behaviors (even those which may seems small like fertilizing your lawn) can be compounded in nature. This case holds true even with other watersheds which don't flow into the Mississippi because all water eventually flows into a greater body of water be that the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, the Bay of Fundy, or the Long Island Sound. Chemicals, pollutants, nutrients and debris are carried by water from small bodies to larger.

The good news is that means the actions discussed in the previous post hold true as good ways to help our planet. But it also means that there are larger and other solutions which must also be considered.

First and foremost, nutrients must be contained. The easiest solution for property owners: avoid using fertilizers and clean up after your pets. Keeping yard waste like grass clippings and fallen leaves out the storm water gutters (and therefore out of the watershed) also helps reduce the amount of nutrients entering the rivers.

Agricultural production must also find ways to reduce the amount fertilizer used and find ways to keep it and animal waste contained. Containment of nutrients can be approached in a few different ways beneficial to rivers. As in the previous post, the key is water infiltration. Buffer zones at the edges of fields, property lines, and along streams help contain nutrients and other pollutants. These buffers function like wetlands. When filled with deep rooted native plants, the buffers are both an effective erosion control and can also filter and use pollutants and nutrients keeping water clean. These areas are known as Riparian Buffers.

To repeat a previous theme. Restoring and protecting natural wetlands is the best method. Natural wetlands are the most effective buffer zones. Wetlands slow the flow of water allowing sediment and pollutants to drop out, clarifying the water. Wetlands are also capable of breaking down nitrogen fertilizers to remove them from the watershed altogether.

In short, you and I and everyone are capable of saving the oceans (Pause for a second because that's a powerful thought!):

Minke Whale in the Bay of Fundy

By: 1) Avoiding fertilizers
2) Cleaning up after our pets
3) Keeping yard waste out of the storm sewers
4) Containing nutrients on site by using native plants as buffers
5) Keeping buffer zones along streams, ponds, rivers, and lakes intact
6) And protecting and restoring natural wetlands.