Once concentrations are high enough, the chloride becomes toxic to fish and invertebrates and can even prevent lakes from turning over the in spring and fall.
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All articles filed in water pollution
When watershed educators go rogue
How to dispose of five common waste products without polluting our water.
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Intersex fish and cocaine shrimp
Scientists lay the blame for these strange phenomena on endocrine-disrupting chemicals and pharmaceutical compounds, such as pesticides, medications, and even common household products like shampoo.
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Green lawns for blue water and good health
Some common lawn care practices can harm wildlife, pets, and water resources. Happily, there are a few simple guidelines you can follow to get a healthy lawn that looks nice without harming the environment.
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River flowing, gathering tears
The Mississippi is like a woman with a basket on her back that grows heavier by the hour. Sometimes I think she gathers our tears as well, as she sweeps through burning cities and past people crying out for justice.
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Green Lands, Blue Waters – A new menu for Minnesota farmers?
Do you like Kernza® and jam? Would you eat it in a boat? Would you eat it with a goat? Would you try it drenched in milk, ground to flour, or brewed as beer? Kansas-based nonprofit, The Land Institute, has spent more than 40 years researching and developing new farming strategies to protect soil and…
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Salting the Earth
Dec. 2 presentation will highlight impacts of road salt on local water resources When the City of Carthage fell at the end of the Third Punic War, 146 BC, victorious Romans pulled Phoenecian ships out of the harbor and set them on fire before moving through the city, house to house, rounding up and selling…
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Surprising sources of mercury in Minnesota lakes
DEAR WATERSHED EXPERT: What is the leading cause of water pollution in Minnesota? DEAR WONDERING WATER-LOVER: You might be surprised to learn that mercury from the air is, by far, the leading source of pollution in our lakes and rivers. Ninety-nine percent of the mercury in our lakes and rivers comes from atmospheric deposition. This…
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Land wanted – Must have bugs
I’m standing in the middle of a prairie making a conference call on my cellphone because that’s what working moms do. Every few minutes, I catch a glimpse of my son as he lopes into view, diving into the bee balm and through the black-eyed susans. Then suddenly he appears directly in front of me and,…
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Minnesotans Call for New Legislation to Promote Smart Salting
Written in partnership with Watershed Partners: http://www.cleanwatermn.org More than ten years ago, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) came to a frightening realization. After testing lakes and streams in the Twin Cities metro area, they discovered that chloride levels in many were climbing, and that some were already too salty to support fish. Further testing…
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East Metro Water 