Eutrophication Case Study

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1. Planning for changes is difficult due to the natural fluctuation of the great lakes water levels but there are factors that are certain that the levels as well as the region are changing negatively due to climate change (Kahl & Stirratt, n.d.). The water levels of the Great Lakes have declined over the past decades (“Climate Change Indicators: Great Lakes Water Levels and Temperatures”, 2016). Climate change is a change in typical weather that lasts longer than usual (“Climate Change, Health, Environmental Justice”, n.d.). It typically comes along with the warming or cooling of the average temperature as well as extreme weather. The average temperatures of the Great Lakes are rising and heavy precipitation is becoming even more heavier each …show more content…
A dead zone is an area that has barely any oxygen due to hypoxia caused by the process of eutrophication (Bruckner, 2017). Eutrophication is the over-enrichment of nutrients in water which causes an overgrowth of algae and hypoxia (US Department of Commerce, 2004). These dead zones are common all over the world and even found in Lake Erie which deals with re-eutrophication. The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico deals with the same issues as Lake Erie and is one of the largest dead zones in the world (Bruckner, 2017).
3. The Des Moines Water Works Lawsuit began on March 16, 2015 and is the Board of Trustees of Des Moines Water Works versus thirteen Iowa drainage districts with the claim that these thirteen districts are draining harmful water into the rivers of Iowa which breaks the Clean Water Act. This was found when the DMWW had to meet requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act but when a high amount of nitrate was found, it led to the certain districts that are being sued. This relates to personal property rights because in these counties, individual landowners can tile their land so the harmful runoff can drain into the pipes and into these districts’ draining system (Essman,
…show more content…
(2017, August 03). The Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone. Retrieved November 28, 2017, from https://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/topics/deadzone/index.html

Chislock, M. F., Zitomer, R. A., Doster, E., & Wilson, A. E. (2013). Eutrophication: Causes, Consequences, and Controls in Aquatic Ecosystems. Retrieved November 28, 2017, from https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/eutrophication-causes-consequences-and-controls-in-aquatic-102364466

Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region [PDF]. (2014, June 18). GLISA.

Climate Change Indicators: Great Lakes Water Levels and Temperatures. (2016, December 17). Retrieved November 27, 2017, from https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/great-lakes

Climate Change, Health, Environmental Justice [PDF]. (n.d.). United States Environmental Protection

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