The biggest pollution problem in most of our urban city lakes is WATERFOWL. Biologists have analyzed the amount of feces an average duck creates per day & come up with 2.7 ounces per day. If you consider your average Southern California urban city lake, of roughly 3 to 5 acres, you probably have about 600 waterfowl on it during the winter. If there are 600 ducks they would create 1,620 ounces a day, that is 45,360 ounces a month, which is 2,835 pounds a month, which = OVER 1 TON A MONTH! (1.4 tons actually).
How can we help? STOP FEEDING THE DUCKS!
Ducks & other waterfowl will naturally eat the weeds, bugs, & little fish that are in the lakes. By feeding waterfowl, it makes them alter or stop their migration patterns & matting patterns, sometimes over breeding or mixing with the domestic waterfowl, (usually ducks). Feeding the waterfowl also makes them more susceptible to dieses, compromising their immune system. Areas where ducks accumulate & are feed by humans usually have sick ducks with diarrhea, it dries, people walk on it, it gets airborne, & can be a health hazard to humans.
There are no urban ponds, lakes, rivers, or streams that can naturally recover from such heavy loading of pollution without a remediation program & management in place. We also must address other forms of pollutants like storm water runoff & pharmaceuticals that enter our water systems.
It can be done; the technology exists, & is currently being used throughout the world.
There are laws in place that must be enforced to educate the public, about feeding waterfowl. If not, as the waterfowl population increases, we will see more sick or dying waterfowl, & lakes clogged with weeds & algae.
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