Unnatural Data

From: The Otter - Summer 2020

Formidable water pollution challenge

According to Circle of Blue, decreasing the flow of fertilizers from farm fields into surface waters is the country’s most daunting water pollution challenge. Phosphorus and nitrogen levels in lakes and waterways contribute to countless toxic algal blooms, and pose health risks in drinking water. South Dakota and the Big Sioux River are trending up.

Hypoxia update

Scientists predict this summer’s Gulf of Mexico hypoxic area or “dead zone” – an area of low to no oxygen that can kill fish and other marine life – will measure approximately 6,700 square miles, larger than the longterm average size of 5,387 square miles. The “dead zone” – starting near the mouth of the Mississippi River- is caused mostly by fertilizer runoff from farm fields.

Weakening the Clean Water Act

U.S. EPA finalized a narrower definition of waterbodies protected under the Clean Water Act. Opponents in the U.S. Congress have introduced a bill that would block this dangerous rule. Instead of shrinking the act’s protections, we should be expanding them.

Oil pipeline crosses Big Sioux River

The Dakota Access oil pipeline crosses beneath the Big Sioux River a short distance downriver from Sioux Falls. This 30-inch pipeline was originally permitted to carry about 570,000 barrels of oil per day from the Bakken oil field to storage facilities in southern Illinois. Since the original permit was issued and oil transport commenced in 2017 the pipeline’s owners requested authorities allow more than one million barrels per day through the pipeline. South Dakota’s Public Utilities Commission granted this request without a public hearing. Litigation and opposition continue against this pipeline.

Nitrates threaten Minnesota drinking water

Nitrate contamination of drinking water is worsening in rural Minnesota, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Between 1995 and 2018, elevated levels of nitrates were detected in 115 Minnesota water systems, mostly in farming areas in the state’s southern and central regions. At least ten communities have installed costly nitrate-removal systems or drilled new wells to find acceptable water. EWG examined the Rock County Rural Water System, serving 2,256 people in southwest Minnesota, near Sioux Falls, and calculated that the system’s average nitrate concentration increased by 890 percent from 1995 to 2018. All of Rock County lies within the Big Sioux River watershed.