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Is the Rum River “impaired”? How about its watershed?
What does it mean for a body of water to be “impaired”? The MN Pollution Control Agency(MPCA) defines an
impaired waterbody
as “a
waterbody that does not meet water qualitystandards and designated uses because of pollutant(s), pollution, or unknown causes ofimpairment.”
The MPCA has set upper acceptable limits for each substance that is known to have a negativeimpact on a river, lake or stream. These are referred to as the
Total Maximum Daily Load(TMDL)
of each substance, or “the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody canreceive and still meet water quality standards.
TMDL
also refers to the process of allocatingpollutant loadings among
point
(industrial and urban) and
nonpoint
(agricultural) sources.
“
There are about 59 monitoring stations tracked by the MPCA in the Rum River watershed inAnoka County, 46 in Isanti County, two in Kanabec County, 40 in Mille Lacs County and two inSherburne County. About 20 of these monitoring stations are on the Rum River itself. The restare still within its watershed, and are operated by volunteers and professionals reporting backperiodically to MPCA. Some of the stations monitor biological components, others measure thechemistry of the water, and some do both. Chemical components include such aspects asbiological oxygen demand (BOD), chlorophyll A, transparency/turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO),Kjeldahl nitrogen, total nitrogen (nitrates and nitrites) and pH.On the whole, the river is considered in a fairly pristine condition regarding these parameters.Measurements taken by environmental science classes under Brad Wold at the Anoka RamseyCommunity College (Cambridge branch) found no serious excesses in these parameters.However, at least one other pollutant within the river occurs in elevated amounts: mercury.Heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury are difficult to measure, requiring specialized fieldequipment and lab facilities. Once in the natural system as pollutants, they are almostimpossible to remove. Arsenic does not appear to be a problem in the Rum River, but all of theRum River has restrictions applied to it as to safe levels of fish consumption due to mercurycontamination. Therefore, the whole river may be considered “impaired” due to mercury,although officially only certain stretches are considered impaired, such as from the entrance ofStanchfield Creek into the Rum River (Isanti County), to the mouth of the Rum River into theMississippi River (Anoka County.) Some sources of mercury are natural, but many are due tohuman activity. See the subsequent article on precautions that can be taken to minimizemercury contamination in our environment.
Mercury in our environment and how to control it (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture bulletin)
Mercury is a naturally occurring element in nature, and is also released into the environment byhuman activity. These activities include (among others) vehicle fuel combustion, energyproduction by coal plants, and various types of mining. Improper disposal of mercury-containingproducts such as thermometers, cell phones, fluorescent lights and cathode ray tubes(computer monitors, TV screens) also contributes to its increase in our lakes, streams, andwatersheds. Since mercury is a heavy metal and a dangerous neurotoxin that accumulates overtime in the muscles of all that consume it (such as fish, birds, and other animals includinghumans) this is a matter of concern. Neurotoxins can cause irreversible nerve and braindamage.Mercury cannot be eliminated easily once it has accumulated in the natural environment or thebody of an organism. The following are some precautions we can take to prevent its release andreduce unhealthy exposure:
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