Ever wonder why our rivers and lakes, including areas of the Great Lakes, continue to suffer from too much polluted runoff after 30 years of effort? Although this piece is about waterways outside the Great Lakes Basin in Minnesota, it has a lot to do with the conditions in western Lake Erie, parts of southern Lake Michigan and perhaps Saginaw Bay.
Money quote:
I saw those same kinds of violations during our travels on the Minnesota River this past week. In one case the corn rows were about as close to the edge of the eight foot high bank as farm machinery could get without tumbling into the river. We also watched unfenced cattle amble down to the river and defecate into the water.
OK, agriculture is not the sole culprit, but it has to be dealt with more effectively, and the political system seems incapable of it.
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