It was wonderful to see the ocean and all the forms of life on a recent trip to southern California’s coast. It was fascinating to see the different kinds of kelp which would wash up with the tide. This ocean gives us views of plant and animal life that we are far from here on the Nebraska prairie.
Tidal pools are great places to observe different life forms and are close to the ocean. Tidal pools may contain collections of crabs. These areas could be used to supplement freshwater systems, as the water levels change and the influx of sand changes constantly.
Our tidal pool are closer to home and more like stream oxbows, river backwaters that occasionally flood, and road ditches. They contain biota, but also an excessive amount of nutrients. The nitrogen has been used in Nebraska for decades for crop production. However, the excess has caused problems for water quality and human health in Nebraska. Residual nitrogen can be very persistent and I often think that more open water and forested bush wetlands could reduce the impact of run-off nitrogen. In the environment, nitrogen is converted into nitrate.
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Many wetlands have been altered or drained, and their ability is diminishing to clean these nutrients. It would be a great idea to remove excess nitrogen from groundwater in order to improve water quality.
The global nitrogen legacy is different depending on climate, historical land use, and land management practices. Our alluvial floodplains of Nebraska evolved with braided streams channels and backwaters that treated run-off more passively and effectively used nutrients.
A University of Waterloo research published in Nature Geoscience gives scientists, policymakers, the public and others a roadmap to overcome the legacy nitrogen issues that can hinder our water quality. This study could be of benefit in Nebraska.
The study recommends six steps:
1- Focus research to determine the amount of nitrogen that remains in ecosystems in order to adjust conservation timelines.
2- Use the legacy nitrogen to grow crops, rather than adding nitrogen fertilizers to ecosystems already rich in nitrogen.
3- Use targeted conservation strategies instead of a blanket approach to improve water quality. Different soil types can be used.
4- Combine conservation methods that reduce nitrogen loss from the farm fields (e.g. in wetlands) with methods that extract nitrogen from soil accumulated over time.
5- Monitor water quality at large and small scales to ensure that short-term results are visible at farm fields and long-term outcomes within river basins.
6- In evaluating the economic effects of conservation strategies, it is important to include both short-term and long-term cost-benefit analyses.
According to the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, 187 no-swimming notices were issued at 22 Nebraska lakes and reservoirs between 2010 and 2019, due to Harmful Algal Blooms. HABs can be caused by high levels of nutrients, including Nitrate, and favorable weather conditions. It is possible that it is time, which is long overdue, to think about the nutrient contamination in our state a little more deeply.
I couldn’t resist sharing some wisdom from Your True Nature regarding tidal pool.
Michael P. Gutzmer PhD, principal and owner of New Century Environmental LLC provides environmental consulting services in Great Plains. NCE works with water and wetlands, habitat development threatened or endangered species, and pollution problems. Please email me at [email protected].