Tag: nitrates
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Battle for safe drinking water heated amid drought in California’s Central Valley
For people in the nation’s breadbasket, a historic drought’s impacts are visible in every moment of daily life — but the fight for water rights is just beginning. In agriculture country like Tulare County, California, farmers often place signs blaming Governor Gavin Newsom for water shortages. (Natalie Hanson/Courthouse News) WEST GOSHEN, Calif. (CN) — Thousands…
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Weeki Wachee Mermaids Tackle Water Pollution Education
This long, long-running roadside attraction is also educating visitors about pollutants’ effects, focusing on Florida issues that also are relevant to any agricultural regions. The mermaid show at Weeki Wachee Springs has been a delightfully kitschy, (very) family friendly, tourist staple for decades. These days, its shows are also relevant and topical, in a way…
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Nitrates Before and After: This is what happened
Many people are curious about Iowa stream nitrate before modern agriculture became established across the landscape. They want to know what the “natural” level of nitrate was. It turns out we do have some actual data. In 1955, the Iowa Geological Survey published a document titled “Water-Supply Bulletin No. 5, Quality of Surface Waters of…
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IAEA Develops New Method to Track Sources of Water Pollution
Photo: Excessive nitrate in lakes, seas and rivers can increase algae growth that can lead to toxic blue-green blooms. The IAEA, in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts, has developed an innovative method to trace the origin of nitrate pollution in water. (Photo: L. Wassenaar, IAEA) The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in collaboration with…
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Elevated Nitrate Levels Found in Millions of Americans’ Drinking Water
Photo: Steve Johnson / Flickr Public water systems serving more than 5.6 million Americans contain concentrations of nitrate at levels found to cause health problems, including cancer and birth defects, according to a new study published in the journal Environmental Health. Systems serving Hispanic populations tended to have the highest levels of nitrate in drinking…
