Posted: 10/9/07
August flash floods polluted area
rivers; who monitors these levels?
By Tom Murphy
Special to the Caledonia Argus
The number of people concerned about water quality in the Mississippi River increased last month. The August flash floods caused countless gallons of untreated sewage, fertilizers, ag and petro chemicals, and other pollutants into the Root River, which flows into the Mississippi River near Hokah. In Minnesota, responsibility for obtaining that information falls on the shoulders of local agencies when specific readings are desired.
In Houston County, the major monitoring sites are on the Root River bridge three miles east of Hokah on Highway 26. The other site is on the Mississippi River under U.S. Highway 14 bridge at La Crosse. There are no testing results available on the websites since the August 19 flood.
Bill Thompson of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said that in Minnesota, beach authorities have to be organized locally. MPCA provides the standards for safe levels. He cited the beach authority on Lake Superior as an example. It takes the samples and obtains the readings and compares them to recommended standards. Those current readings are then publicized as to the safety factor in using that body of water. The only beach program with which MPCA is involved is on Lake Superior. La Crosse may have a similar structure in place.
At Lake Superior, there are several units of government and state agencies involved. MPCA administers the program cooperatively with the Minnesota Department of Health, county health and environmental departments, and private and public organization along Minnesotaís Lake Superior shore.
Readings are taken more often during the summer months of June, July, and August on the Root River. Bacteria readings are higher during those months because of warmer water temperatures which promote growth. A second factor is the public recreation usage of the waterways tends to decrease outside of that period.
Samples are taken from sites on the Root River and on the Mississippi River. Web sites may only provide readings from as recently as July from the Root River. At the La Crescent site, data is only available from 2006. When the information is put online, readings are from monthly tests. That data covers the following parameters and chemicals: transparency, turbidity, conductivity, nitrogen, temperature, pH levels, and dissolved oxygen. Usually, but not always, the measurements also include fecal coliform, E. coli, chlorophyll, total suspended solids, biological oxygen demand, heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls, phosphorus, chloride, sulfate, carbon, and color.
The research data goes back to 1958 at the Houston County sites.
Caledonia Argus
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