Lake Thunderbird 30 years behind target dates set by Clean Water Act→

Joy Hampton, reporting for The Moore American:

“Lake Thunderbird’s well-earned nickname, “Dirtybird,” may not apply in six years, according to computer model projections. The model projections and recommended requirements for reducing lake pollution were developed by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality and Dynamic Solutions LLC.

Regulations implemented as a result of the study will affect Moore and south Oklahoma City as well as Norman because all three of those municipalities discharge stormwater into Lake Thunderbird’s watershed.”

Lake Thunderbird is not alone. There is a large number of lakes in the United States that are polluted and the prospects for restoring water quality are daunting. 

Plastic beads are the latest pollution threat to Great Lakes→

Lisa Maria Garza, reporting for Reuters:

“Tiny plastic beads from beauty products are showing up in North America’s Great Lakes, and an environmental group is calling upon companies to stop using the plastic particles.

Scientists have already been found the particles, known as microplastic, floating in the oceans but recently reported the same contamination in the largest surface freshwater system on the Earth. The particles are often less than a millimeter (0.04 inch).
”

What we put in our products enters the environment and then circles back to pollute our bodies. 

Preventing pollution much better than cleaning up Jordan Lake→

Michael A. Mallin and Kenneth H. Reckhow, reporting for the newsobserver.com:

“Jordan Lake is a major drinking water supply for the Research Triangle area and a heavily used recreational area. Over the years, inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus have led to large algal blooms that impair this waterway, causing the U.S. EPA to require North Carolina to devise a plan (called a TMDL – total maximum daily load) to reduce nutrient inputs. Over several years, a variety of stakeholders worked out a plan involving compromise that was signed by Gov. Bev Perdue.

However, the General Assembly is now considering delaying pollutant controls for three years and suggests that using as-yet unidentified technology within the lake proper can clean it up. The best and cheapest way to improve water quality is to keep the nutrients from entering the lake in the first place.”

BP is polluting Lake Michigan→

Chicago Tribune editorial: 

“BP, one of the world’s biggest companies, dumps nearly 20 times more toxic mercury into Lake Michigan than federal regulations permit.

This has been known for years, but BP still gets away with it. How? Ask the people of Indiana.

In 2007, a Chicago Tribune investigation documented that Indiana allowed the massive BP refinery in Whiting to increase the amount of pollutants it released into the lake water that’s used by millions of people for drinking, fishing and recreation. Permitting the oil company to dump high levels of mercury, ammonia and suspended solids helped to clear the way for a big expansion of the refinery.”

Nitrogen pollution is widespread in southern Minnesota lakes and rivers, report finds→

Josephine Marcotty, reporting for the Star Tribune: 

“Nitrogen contamination in southern Minnesota is so severe that 27 percent of the region’s lakes and rivers could not be used for drinking water, according to an unexpectedly blunt assessment of state water pollution released Wednesday.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) said that, overall, 41 percent of the streams and lakes in southern Minnesota have excessive nitrogen, which can be toxic to fish and other forms of aquatic life and is the state’s most widespread form of water pollution.”

Microplastic Pollution Prevalent in Lakes, Too→

From Science Daily: 

“Researchers have detected microplastic pollution in one of Western Europe’s largest lakes, Lake Geneva, in large enough quantities to raise concern. While studies in the ocean have shown that these small bits of plastic can be harmful to fish and birds that feed on plankton or other small waterborne organisms, the full extent of their consequences in lakes and rivers is only now being investigated.”

Protecting Lake George by limiting pollution from runoff→

Jamie Munks, reporting for the Glen Fall Post-Star: 

“It was Lake George that drew Tony DeFranco back to this northern Warren County town to work for his family’s firm, which has a growing aim to plant landscaping features that protect the lake from pollutants.

DeFranco returned three years ago to work with his father at DeFranco Landscaping Inc. in Hague, the business David DeFranco started in 1984.

The younger DeFranco’s interest in coming back to the area was piqued in part by projects like the West Brook Environmental Initiative in Lake George.

“If something happened to this lake, we wouldn’t have this business,” DeFranco said. “Tourism is what we have here in the Adirondacks, in Lake George.”

The family-owned firm, which has counted all five of the DeFrancos (both parents and three children) as employees at one point or another, has found a niche in northern Warren County — combining landscaping with stormwater and erosion control and property management.”

It is important to have a job that does good work and makes a difference for people and  their environment.  

Cocaine, DEET, other chemicals found in Minnesota lakes→

Dan Gunderson, reporting for MPR:

“A new study of Minnesota lakes finds more evidence that water across the state contains a wide range of chemicals.

The largest study of its kind ever done in Minnesota shows chemicals from household products, prescription drugs and illegal drugs are common in Minnesota lakes. ”

— http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/water/water-monitoring-and-reporting/water-quality-and-pollutants/endocrine-disrupting-compounds.html

What we use in our homes, our gardens, and in our manufacturing and agricultural industries, ultimately ends up in our lakes and rivers. Are you surprised about these results?

Get ready for more White Bear Lakes: Two new looks at groundwater depletion→

Ron Meador, reporting for MinnPost:

“Two new reports on Minnesota’s groundwater resource deserve more attention than they’ve been getting. One, from the U.S. Geological Survey, updates and elaborates its findings that falling water levels in White Bear Lake are largely attributable to increased groundwater pumping by city water systems to the north and west. Another, from the Freshwater Society, sets that lake’s predicament in the context of a much larger problem — a huge increase in groundwater pumping all across Minnesota during the last quarter-century.”

Pinellas lake pollution to cost unincorporated residents→

Anne Phillips, reporting for the Tampa Bay Times:

“Lake Tarpon and Lake Seminole are extreme examples of costly restoration projects in Pinellas, but some commissioners say they are hearing a growing number of complaints about other polluted lakes and creeks. And the County Commission is awakening to the realization that reversing decades of fertilizer runoff and drainage problems is going to be expensive.”

Spring Rain, Then Foul Algae in Ailing Lake Erie→

Michael Wines, reporting for the New York Times:

“For those who live and play on the shores of Lake Erie, the spring rains that will begin falling here soon are less a blessing than a portent. They could threaten the very future of the lake itself.”

The article also has good pictures of blue-green blooms.