Issues we would like to address during the trip:
- What is the Maumee Watershed and how is our water being affected
- Fish and Wildlife habitat
- Current fish health issues and fish contamination advisories (FAC’s)
- Decrease in desirable fish species
- Increasing Hypoxic Zone in the Western Lake Erie Basin
- Algae / Dead Zones
- Flooding and impervious surface increase
- Stormwater control
- Streambank Erosion
- Sedimentation (from erosion and runoff) continues to be the largest pollutant nation wide.
- Lack of riparian buffers along streams
- Segmented / Lack of forested areas
- Need for wetland protection and restoration
- Unbuffered tile inlets
- Urban Contamination Sites
- Brownfield Sites and Super Fund Sites
- Rural legal drains v/s natural drains and drainage issues
- CSO’s & SSO’s
- Combined Sewer Outfall/Combined Sewer Overflow/Sanitary Sewer Overflow
- Increase in impervious surfaces (concrete and asphalt)
- NPDES permitted facilities
- Increase in Dissolved Reactive Phosphorus
- Soil erosion
- CAFO’s and CFO’s – antibiotics and nutrient loading in water
- Additional chemical problems: Atrazine, Alachlor, Metolachlor
- What is dissolved oxygen, how to increase it and how is it related to turbidity?
- Water quality and how it directly relates to land use and land management
- Structures within floodplains
Even with government regulations in place, the safety and quality of our water remains in question because the Maumee remains on the Federal 303 (d) list of impaired waterways.
LET rivers meander….come meander with us
Public Forum: Bring people to the riverbank locations
Giving the public a destination for recreational opportunities along the Maumee River, and providing education has been identified as a need among many nonprofits and agencies! Lack of water education and outreach to the public has been identified as a challenge for water quality – Save Maumee hopes to help shed light on issues and solutions!