The Conversation. (April 29, 2020). Climate change threatens drinking water quality across the Great Lakes. Retrieved August 30, 2020 from,  https://theconversation.com/climate-change-threatens-drinking-water-quality-across-the-great-lakes-131883

Over the years the water in parts of the Great Lakes has severely declined. It all started in 1970, after a century of urbanization and industrialization. During these developments factories were allowed to dump waste into waterways and bad sewer systems commonly sent raw sewage into the lake and river. This dumping and polluting cause toxic algae blooms and foul water. To combat these affects the US made the Clean Water Act and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the US and Canada. These steps helped a lot, however over time their shortcomings combined with climate change has created many new problems. Water temperature and precipitation is rising, and smaller “nonpoint” sources, “such as fertilizer and other nutrients washing off farm fields and suburban lawns,” has been fairly unregulated. The accumulation of this runoff has spurred the creation of severe toxic algae blooms similar to those from 1970. These blooms make the water taste and smell bad, and sometimes unsafe to drink, also they, “have long-term impacts on the lakes’ ecosystems. They deplete oxygen, killing fish and spurring chemical processes that prime the waters of Lake Erie for larger future blooms”. The development projects to combat this will, improve and manage stormwater and stop and process sewage before they are transported to the lakes. They also have green roofs, infiltration gardens, and reclaimed wetlands to filter and remove excess nutrients to slow runoff during extreme precipitation events. All of these along with smart real time sensors to help avert crises, will reduce the size of the algae blooms and reach almost 50% reduction in nutrient runoff.

 

The Great Lakes together hold 20% of the world’s surface freshwater. Many people take this for granted and think that because the lakes are so huge that runoff and human waste will not significantly harm them. However, this article shows the severe results in consistent runoff and stormwater exposure. Humans can pollute any body of water and it is extremely important that the correct measures and laws are instilled, so that we don’t destroy large amounts of the little freshwater we have to begin with. It was very important that commissions and alliances that oversee the well being of these lakes took appropriate action to reduce this pollution, however it is still very concerning that we let the water backslide into the state it once was in 1970.