CHAPTER 9
Keeping It Clean

The mighty Mississippi is one of the most magnificent rivers in the world.

Sixty percent of the birds in North America follow its path as they migrate north and south. Starlings, crows, doves, sandpipers, warblers, robins, mallards, Canada geese, and many other birds fly above it.

Bald eagles nest in white pine trees. River otters slide in and out of the water. Muskrats rest in lodges they have built in the river. Over two hundred species of fish swim in the river.

Fish and wildlife have depended on the Mississippi River for thousands of years. Native Americans fished there. They drank the water. Farms were small. Goods moved up and down the river on flatboats that used poles, not fuel.

When explorers and early settlers came to the river, its water was still clean enough to drink. But as more and more settlers came, problems arose for the river. Efforts to protect people hurt the Mississippi and surrounding areas. For example, some levees and dams blocked the river from reaching wetlands. The delta wetlands began to shrink. Habitats of plants, animals, and other wildlife began to disappear.

Cities throughout the Mississippi River basin grew larger and larger. Factories were built. They dumped waste and chemicals into the water. To grow better crops, farmlands were sprayed with pesticides that make their way into the river water.

Tankers in the Lower Mississippi carried oil in and out of the river. Sometimes the oil spilled. Soon, the river water had to be cleansed, and distilled, to make it safe to drink. Fish and other wildlife died.

Every summer, a dead zone of about six thousand square miles forms from the mouth of the river into the Gulf of Mexico. Chemicals used to grow crops are washed into the Mississippi River and then flow down into the Gulf. The fresh river water spreads across the saltwater and creates a condition that prevents oxygen in the water from reaching the lower layers of the Gulf. Every living thing needs oxygen to breathe. Dead seaweed clogs the bottom of the Gulf. Hardy fish can swim to the upper layers, but bottom-dwellers, like shrimp and worms, cannot survive.

More and more, people began to worry about what was happening to their river. They decided to do something. Locally, many formed groups that fight off pollution. They worked together to remove trash from the riverbanks. They urged Congress members in their states to pass laws to protect the Mississippi.

At the national level, a special agency was established in 1970. It is the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA works to end pollution and other environmental problems all over the country. The Clean Water Act was passed in 1972. As the river changes, the Clean Water Act changes, too. New laws are passed. Businesses and factories that pollute the river must pay fines. Farmers who use chemicals that pollute the river are fined, too.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service sets aside parts of the river called National Wildlife Refuges, to protect fish, plants, and wildlife. There are plans to rebuild protective wetlands and revitalize the Mississippi River delta with the creation of marshes and restoration of barrier islands and oyster reefs.

Someday, perhaps, the water in the mighty Mississippi will once again be as clean as it was when the early explorers noticed the great waters for the first time.