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Water Conservation The Potomac River and Many Other Rivers Need Our Help

Articles and Photos by Emma Smith

Despite the fact that fresh water only makes up a small fraction of all water on Earth, many of our freshwater sources are quickly becoming over polluted and overused. A shortage of clean drinking water is one of the most immediate threats to human health. At the national levels, EPA results show that 50% of the water in the U.S. is too polluted for drinking (EPA, 2023). Around the world, about 400 million tons of pollution are dropped into freshwater ecosystems every year (WWF, 2023).

This level of pollution inevitably harms animal life, as research has found that two-thirds of all fish species have ingested plastic (Fish kill Flea, 2022), and over one million animals die each year after ingesting, or becoming entrapped in plastic that wasn’t properly disposed (Texas disposal, 2023). If current trends in overfishing and ocean pollution continue, researchers estimate that by 2050 we’ll run out of seafood, and there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans (Fish Kill Flea, 2022).

I am an environmentalist and am very passionate about cleaning up our environment. My goal for my future career is to get a job that allows me to make a positive impact on the environment. Last summer I got one step closer to reaching that goal as I worked as an intern at a state park along the Potomac River.

I had the opportunity to educate people about the environment as well as participate and create environmentally friendly activities. Working along the Potomac I learned just how polluted the river has come to be. Last spring when I went to my favorite spot by the Potomac to read, I saw six dead catfish floating on top of the river. Since then, I have been researching the river as well cleaning up any trash I see along the river and the shore.

I came to learn that the Potomac River is one of the 10 most-endangered rivers in the United States. There is glass and plastic littering the shores and water of the Potomac as well as many different chemicals and waste products contributing to the river’s pollution. The Potomac is so polluted that there are signs along its banks warning people to not eat the fish. The Potomac River and many other rivers need our immediate attention to help protect and conserve our waterways.

We can help immensely by participating in river clean ups, properly disposing of trash, only using environmentally friendly products, and recycling. Scientists are coming up with new innovative ideas to help tackle the plastic-waste problem and are working on ways to make plastic more biodegradable and environmentally friendly. Researchers are also working on plastic capturing systems to put in rivers and ways to reduce waste from flowing into rivers. But those efforts are not enough.

Community involvement is key to the success of helping to conserve rivers. If we don’t work together to help clean up our rivers it could lead to water scarcity, and lack of safe seafood. Preserving our rivers is crucial to our environment, our health, and all living organisms.

Water is Earth’s most precious resource that makes all life possible. Wildlife needs clean water not only to drink but for a number of necessary things such as to bathe, find food, temperature control, habitat, shelter, and breeding.

The Potomac River is polluted with urban runoff, chemicals from fertilizers, animal waste from farms, matter from flooding sewers, and pharmaceuticals that have been flushed. All these sources of pollutions are destroying the aquatic life in the river and have made the fish inedible because they may contain dangerous levels of PCBs, mercury, and pesticides (Booth/Mount, & Gazette, 2021).

This image is from a river clean up that I got to facilitate at the Potomac River and this trash was collected from a small area of the shore. This area of the Potomac is so polluted that it is recommended not to swim in mainly due to pollution and algae buildup on the surface.

This is an image of my daughter, who is also one of my junior rangers that I taught about environmental stewardship. We must teach our new generations about how to care for our environment so it can take care of us.

Rivers help protect endangered wildlife, provide drinking water, carry fresh water all around the world, provide habitats for many animals, provide transportation, provide food, help the economy, and helps with farming. It is extremely important to save endangered rivers from pollution. If we continue to heavily pollute the environment it will not be able to sustain us.

We must take steps to conserve and protect water for future generations. Another great way to help the environment is to educate people about the effects we have on the environment, the long-term effects from our actions, and how they can help make a difference for our environment. One of the biggest ways we can help clean rivers is by getting the government to fund more innovative river clean-up projects and to put stronger policies in place for recycling and waste. We need everyone to work together to help make the biggest impact on cleaning up our precious water ecosystems.

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All photos are taken by Emma Smith of the Potomac River.

Credits:

Emma Smith