Have you ever wondered how some rivers just suddenly appear? Within Arizona,
several cities now release wastewater into riverbeds, essentially creating "new"
rivers. Rivers such as the Salt River from Phoenix,
the Santa Cruz River downstream from Nogales and Tucson, and the Agua Fria
River downstream from Prescott Valley all receive wastewater. Is wastewater
different from water found in naturally occurring rivers, such as the
Verde River? Is this wastewater good or bad
for the invertebrates, plants, and animals that live along these rivers?
A study is now being conducted to try to answer these questions. To answer
this ecosystem size question, we must first study smaller parts within the
ecosystem. One part we are looking at is water chemistry to determine if there
is a difference between wastewater and water from natural rivers. We are
looking at the plants and animals living within the river to see if they are
different. We are also determining if the water in the riverbed is moving into
the ground where it can influence groundwater chemistry and plants living
along the river. Next we are studying the trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses
growing along the river to see if they are growing differently because of
the wastewater. We also want to know if wastewater rivers have plants that
are different from what we find along natural rivers. Finally, we are looking
at the birds and invertebrates found with the plants along the river to see
if they are changing because of the wastewater. Once we have studied all these
different parts, then we will combine them together to see if the ecosystems
are different along wastewater rivers compared to natural rivers. This study
will take several years to complete, but below is a brief introduction to some
of the things we have found so far.
Quiz yourself on the information you just read in this article!
Here are some other places to read and learn about wastewater and ecology.
On the Web:
There are hundreds of sites on the web, but their web addresses often change.
It is best to look for them using a search engine like
HOTBOT using the key
words life wastewater, ecology,.
