Water pollution, runoff, etc.

[KentuckyBristle]

It seems to me that there really aren’t many bodies of water (from small streams up to larger lakes) that don’t have notable pollution problems.

I guess the severity of the problem goes to personal tastes and aversions. I know plenty of people who won’t even drink Louisville tap water because it comes from the river (although it’s almost all I ever drink), and there are others who have no problem with eating multiple meals a week with fish from the Ohio.

Floyds Fork is supposedly the cleanest stream in Jefferson County. I think I’d be willing to eat fish from there, as well as from the Ohio, although maybe not after a “significant rain event” like it says on the warning signs
It seems to me that every body of water locally, even the lakes, will have sewage from tributaries, and from boaters, and waste & pesticide runoff from farms, as well as runoff from parking lots and roads. The only exceptions would be mountain streams.

There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of comprehensive information online about how clean Kentucky’s waters are, but there are various reports and “grade papers” measuring different things from different times.

Another interesting point that I’ve heard made, and which many people who talk about this don’t seem to be aware of, is that fish in markets and restaurants isn’t necessarily cleaner than anything you’d pull out of the river here. (Although it’s not quite the same thing, I heard someone on the radio recently talking about the shrimp farms in Asia that provide shrimp for many major brands around the world…these shrimp farms are pretty much cess pools, and you can probably find these shrimp frozen at your local Kroger.

I find it an interesting topic, and I just wonder about the observations of people who fish and boat more often than I do (which is pretty much everyone on this forum). I’m interested in hearing comments about how clean or dirty the water is in other parts of Kentucky, and where people draw the line.

[MagikSmallie]

As a fisherman and/or boater it is very difficult for individuals to assess water quality based upon just looks. The only way to really tell is with water sampling and testing to see what levels of fecal matter, heavy metals, Phosphorus, nitrogen, etc, etc. exist. It is true there is a level of pollution in nearly all streams in KY, meaning I wouldn't drink a cup full of water out of any stream without purification. I don't believe it to be an issue to eat meals of fish from the Ohio River, just follow the set guidelines. The number one threat to water quality in my opinion is raw sewage from straight pipes and or municipal sewer overflows, Louisville suffers from the latter. Urban run-off is another major contributor especially downstream from Lexington and Louisville. In short most all water sources except some springs are probably polluted to some degree. Just follow basic local guidelines about fish consumption and you shouldn't have any issues.

[smashdn]

Non-point source pollution is now the number one source of water pollution. Industrial and municipal outfalls are highly regulated and highly monitored. Treated wastewater is nearly always cleaner than the receiving waterbody and often times is cleaner than drinking water. The caveat is if/when Louisville has a failure or overflow and dumps raw into the river.

You are correct to avoid contact with certain waterbodies after storm events. This is especially the case after long dry spells as the contaminants just build up on the ground waiting to be washed into a drain or ditch.

Theoretically all MWWTP would be combined systems treating both sanitary and storm sewar waters. Unfortunately the cost and land requirment to build systems that large are not feasible for small municipalities (as many in KY are). So you end up with only sanitary sewage being treated in old sytems that at times are overwhelmed by inflow from storm events entering cracked pipes and drains.

POTW's are largely biologically treated so chemical loading just passes on through.

[timmbur22]

I fished the South Fork of Elkhorn Creek near Midway, Ky Sunday and was APALLED at the amount of JUNK I saw in the water. I'm talking everything from tires, to stoves to children's toys. It sickens me to think people would use this creek as a dump in this day and time, but there it is.

Just had to vent a little about this. Love to hear your feedback.

[king fisher]

http://www.orsanco.org/river-sweep

Check out this website, I wish I could help, yet I will be out of town this weekend.

[roadrunner]

The water systems are much much cleaner now than they were 30 years ago. we now have blue cats saugers small mouths and spotted bass in the Wabash River they could and did not live in this river 30 years ago. They started showing up in small numbers and now we have good populations of these fish.

[ConfederateKnowHow]

My cousin used to work for the water company here in Shelby Co. Going to meetings and conventions he learned (if I recall correctly) that Louisville is one of the top ranked cities for water quality in the United stats.

[Moveon]

USEPA has said in the past that 50% of all ground water is polluted to some degree. Remember those nitrate fertilizers that are spayed on the farmland every years soaks into the ground and enters the aquifers eventually. So many of the underground water springs are contaminated as well.

That's why I don't drink natural spring water or won't buy bottled water from the store unless it's PURIFIED by filtration. I won't buy natural spring water that's bottled. I'd just as soon drink tap water as spring water.

Even the Mountain Streams can contain Nitrates as Nitrogen Oxides in the form of Air Pollution can rain down and contaminate these pure mountain streams. Sulfates fall from the sky as well. And don't forget the heavy metals that fall out of the sky and contaminate our streams and land. Mercury is one such metal that can build up in the Food Chain over time.

USEPA is proposing new regulations called MAC something that are intended to control the heavy metals that flow out of the coal burning power plant's smoke stacks. These regulations are designed to protect the human population from these heavy metals. Heavy Metals like Mercury are well known for their toxic effects.

Ever heard the phrase "mad as a hatter"? Well, that comes from the people who used mercury in solution while making the hats . The mercury got into their nervous system and made them go crazy. Mercury is a neuro-toxin and can damage the brain as well as do other damage to the nerves. Lead is another heavy metal that can do the same thing.

These new Mac regulations are needed to keep these dangerous heavy metals out of the environment.
This is something that all fishermen should be made aware of. We should all want to protect our waters from contaminates.

As a long time fisherman, I've been concerned with the quality of my fishing waters and the quality of the fish that come out of those waters.
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As a fisherman and/or boater it is very difficult for individuals to assess water quality based upon just looks. The only way to really tell is with water sampling and testing to see what levels of fecal matter, heavy metals, Phosphorus, nitrogen, etc, etc. exist. It is true there is a level of pollution in nearly all streams in KY, meaning I wouldn't drink a cup full of water out of any stream without purification. I don't believe it to be an issue to eat meals of fish from the Ohio River, just follow the set guidelines. The number one threat to water quality in my opinion is raw sewage from straight pipes and or municipal sewer overflows, Louisville suffers from the latter. Urban run-off is another major contributor especially downstream from Lexington and Louisville. In short most all water sources except some springs are probably polluted to some degree. Just follow basic local guidelines about fish consumption and you shouldn't have any issues.

[MagikSmallie]

Mercury as a metal can be hazardous but the actual degree that mercury from power plants is affecting streams and water supplies is actually very low: this comes from the EPA:

"Mercury is a toxic, persistent pollutant that accumulates in the food chain. Mercury in the air is a global problem. While fossil fuel-fired power plants are the largest remaining source of human-generated mercury emissions in the United States, they contribute only a small amount (about 1 percent) of total annual mercury emissions worldwide. "

http://www.epa.gov/CAMR/factsheetfin.html

[kyfanatic]

I'd say all groundwater in general is far more polluted from the overall population explosion in this country,I grew up in the 60's on a farm drinking well water that was high quality,I'd be afraid to drink straight well water in this state anywhere now.
We had a fairly large creek on the farm that eventually emptied into the Licking River,as a youth every deep hole in the creek was full of native fish,several types of minnows,chubs,suckers,channel and yellowbelly catfish,every type of sunfish and bluegill,Lm and Sm bass,also carps and redhorses.The creek was full of crawfish and all types of waterbugs etc.
The state took all the house and bottom land from my father back around 1989 to redo a highway and bridge and Dad sold the rest of the place broken hearted over the loss of 40 years of hard work.I went to the creek last year out of curiousity to see how things looked knowing many subdivisions had been built upstream from the old homeplace,and was stunned to see there weren't any fish,minnows,or crawfish.I didn't even see a waterbug,I know they built water treatment stations at these subdivisions,but it's obvious all these folks that treat the heck out of their yards to make that grass pretty pollute more than the fertilizer from the farms ever did.
My point is everybody loves to blame those of us who raise food to eat for the masses,but nobody takles into account the massive pollution from suburbia and urban areas.We had fish when it was farmland,now there isn't any.

[KentuckyBristle]

My point is everybody loves to blame those of us who raise food to eat for the masses,but nobody takles into account the massive pollution from suburbia and urban areas.We had fish when it was farmland,now there isn't any.

Yeah...the runoff of fetilizer and pesticides from farms can be bad, but I'm not sure it compares to all the stuff from ultra-green lawns, plus motor oil and whatnot, that comes out of a typica subdivision. I also wonder about the tons of road salt from icy winters. I'd hate to be a fish on the receiving end of any of it.

It seems to me that, more and more, communities are establishing green buffer zones around creeks and rivers. All those grassy flood basins that I'm seeing in neighborhoods, and intentional green areas left undeveloped, seem like a fantastic idea.

It seems to me that over the last couple of decades, there have been terrific improvements in how people look at protecting water bodies from these sorts of pollutions. I hope the degradation in water quality continues to be reversed.

[Moveon]

How true. We just have too many human these days and as the human population grows exponentially it's only going to get worse over time. I wish that were not true. But until we start to control our population growth it's going to happen.

Fertilizer is only one problem be it on the farm or the suburbs.

You noticed many species in that creek in the old days and that's a sign of a healthy ecosystem. Healthy ecosystems equals good water quality. When you start to see a decline in the number of species and the numbers of one or two special type of species increases then you know that something is wrong with the water quality. Increases in the number or sludge worms and a decrease in the total numbers of other species is a sign of poor water quality.