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| Life within a river is influenced by many factors, one of which is water quality. The chemical nature of the water may determine if a species can live there, and how well it can compete with other plants or animals. What happens when you introduce wastewater into a river, or create a new river with wastewater, such as the Agua Fria River near Prescott Valley? Is the water chemistry different from what naturally occurs in the area? Initial data from the Salt River suggests that there is a drastic change. These two figures look at mostly nutrients, and we see a major increase in nutrient content in wastewater over natural water. Nutrients are fertilizers, such as used in agricultural fields, causing an increase in growth in plants. Does this liquid fertilizer contained within wastewater cause an increase in growth rates of plants growing along the channel? The following sections begin to give us answers. |
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