Transcript:
In summer, people visit New York’s Finger Lakes to swim, boat, and fish. But sometimes, they arrive and find a beach closed because of harmful algal blooms.
Green: “That can be really hard on a recreation-based economy, when you don’t know when it’s going to be safe to get in the water.”
Olivia Green of The Nature Conservancy explains that algal blooms can occur after heavy rain washes fertilizer and organic waste off of farm fields into creeks that flow into the lakes.
Green: “If you look at, like, a drone image soon after a storm … you’ll see these plumes where it looks like chocolate milk is coming into the lake from the creeks.”
High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in that runoff can cause microorganisms in the water to grow out of control and produce toxins that can harm people, pets, and wildlife.
And the problem is getting worse as the climate warms.
Green: “We’re having more frequent storms, way more intense storms that are carrying more and more pollutants to the lakes.”
So the Nature Conservancy is encouraging farmers to plant cover crops in the offseason that absorb water and hold soil in place.
And the group is working to protect forests and wetlands that filter stormwater before it reaches the lakes – to help keep them clean and safe.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media / Thanks to the Midwest Climate Resiliency conference for logistical support.
