How much do you know about water pollution? For seven years the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF) has been surveying adult Americans' environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. The 1998 survey revealed common misperceptions about sources of pollution. How would you have done?
Only one in five (20%) Americans know that polluted runoff is the most common source of water pollution. One-half (50%) think it is factory waste.
About one in seven (16%) know that changing oil and dumping it down a storm drain or pouring it on the ground is the main source of oil getting into surface water. Most (40%) think it comes from oil spills from ships and off-shore wells. In the mid-1990s estimates were that 19 million gallons a day were dumped by individuals. This is more than the Valdez oil spill.
About two of five or (41%) of Americans correctly identified a watershed as a land area that drains into a specific body of water. In the west we often also call them drainages. Thirty-five percent (35%) were unable to guess, even when presented with a choice of definitions.
Only about one in four Americans (23%) know that paper products are still the number one source of landfill material in the U.S. Twenty-nine percent (29%) think it is disposable diapers.
These and other results of the survey indicate that while Americans in general (and certainly those living in the Flathead) identify clean water as a top priority, they do not understand the extent to which their own day-to-day actions have a big effect on water quality. These misperceptions must be corrected, if needed policies and actions are to be put to work.
Clean water is something we treasure in the Flathead. But how clean are our waters? What known and potential problems exist?
Control of readily traceable sources of water pollution (such as industrial waste and sewage treatment plant effluent) over the last twenty years has resulted in the clean-up of many large scale polluters nationwide. In the Flathead, sewage treatment plants have been upgraded, reducing pollution from these "point" sources considerably.
Polluted runoff is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As it moves, runoff picks up and carries natural and human-caused pollutants, finally depositing them into rivers, lakes and groundwater. The critical problem now for the nation and the Flathead is controlling polluted runoff or "nonpoint" sources.
Agriculture, golf courses, lawns, and gardens contribute enormous amounts of nutrients to our waters. Nationally, as much as eighty percent of fertilizers applied is lost via runoff to streams, rivers and lakes. By enriching water with nitrogen and phosphorus, fertilizers promote algae growth which can deplete the oxygen supply and eventually lead to the death of oxygen dependent organisms. Algae growth is a clear sign of increasing nutrients and declining water quality.
Twenty-five years of water quality monitoring <link to Monitoring> show a steady decline in the water quality of Flathead Lake due to increases in nitrogen and phosphorus.
Nationally as much as one half of the pesticides applied to crops and gardens end up in our waters where they accumulate in organisms. Pesticides kill or injure all susceptible organisms, not just pests. Higher organisms such as fish are very susceptible to pesticides. Pesticide accumulation also poses a health hazard to humans.
Comprehensive monitoring of pesticide accumulation in Flathead waters is not currently done. We do know that the amount and frequency of pesticide use around Flathead Lake has increased due to increased use by orchards. Weed and insect problems in forests and on farmland throughout the watershed are also leading to increased pesticide use. How much finds its way into the water is unknown.
Erosion on agricultural lands, logged forests, and river and stream banks contributes the largest proportion of pollutants by volume. Sediment can harm aquatic organisms including fish. Sediments also carry nutrients and other pollutants in the eroded soils.
The burning of fossil fuels is a major source of nitrates, sulfates and heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium. Cars and trucks, as well as burning from many sources, contribute to airborne pollution in the Flathead. Watercraft engines are very polluting. Pesticides and herbicides enter the air during aerial or aerosol applications.
Carried by air currents, these pollutants can travel enormous distances. Eventually rain or snow carries them across the land and into the water. Recent work leads scientists to estimate that as much as one third of the nutrients in Flathead Lake come from the air.
We also know through periodic monitoring by the Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks that fish in Flathead Lake show higher than normal amounts of mercury. While the levels are not high enough to pose a health hazard, they are a cause for concern. The source of the mercury is unknown.
Growth in the Flathead Valley only exacerbates these problems unless we all take measures to reduce the amount of pollutants entering our waters. You can do your share by practicing good stewardship and by joining the Flathead Lakers. Help support our campaign to reduce polluted runoff, and leave a lasting legacy of clean water for the future.
Help protect the Quality of Flathead Lake. Join the Flathead Lakers.
