NATURE NOTES - Number 38                 February 14, 2022

Introduction:   Like many of our natural resources, we went for years without much thought about water.  It was almost always nearby in plentiful and safe quantities.   However, the last half-century of urban sprawl, infrastructure expansion, population growth, and more research has changed all of that.  We could talk about the shifts in water availability, weather pattern changes, consequences of changes to streams and rivers, new uses of water in industry, and on and on, but today let’s restrict our thoughts to…

Our current topic:  Water pollution

Whenever a discussion of water comes up, one of the first thing scouts think of is “pollution”.  What does that mean?  Scouts will quickly point out that pollution is bad and we need to stop it, and they can probably name some causes, but that’s about as far as their knowledge goes.  While one NATURE NOTE can’t cover everything about water pollution, let’s add a few thoughts that you might interject into a conversation on water.  Let’s use the Lake at Camp Powhatan as an example.  Is it safe to swim in? Apparently.  Would you let your dog drink the water? Probably.  Would you drink it?  Probably not.  Do fish live in the lake?  Yes.  Would you eat a fish from that lake?  Probably.  Does it contain harmfully chemicals?  Probably  not.  So is it polluted?  Answer:  It depends.  It depends on how the water is to be used.  The same applies to all streams and bodies of water.  Think of the New River flowing through a large part of the council area.  While we might not drink directly from it, we certainly canoe, fish, wade, and let our dog or farm livestock drink from it.  So pollution is based on the intended use of the water.  Government agencies charged with water protection use this intended-use as the first step in classifying the “pollution” of water.  Most of us would hardly consider Lake Powhatan as polluted, meaning it is safe for most all uses except for human drinking.  However, that same water drains into the New River and eventually serves as a drinking water source down steam after being treated. Scouts have not considered this “use” idea. 

So what causes pollution? There are causes such as industrial run-off of chemicals and other waste products, but some causes often get overlooked.  Consider sedimentation from soil erosion.  How many times have you seen a flowing stream and said “Wow, this is really muddy!” Some of this is natural, especially after heavy rains, but most is man-caused in some way.  Agriculture can add large amounts of soil runoff during heavy rains.  Most farmers don’t want to lose their top soil, but sometimes rains can catch the fields in a vulnerable, unprotected position. Forest fires will produce exposed soil and all kinds of debris that will wash into streams.  New highway and building construction has a risk of turned-over soil draining into streams.  That’s why you see straw bales, fabric fences, and other barriers below construction sites.  This is to stop sediment from reaching a stream.  So what happens if this sediment does reach the stream?  It makes it muddy, yes, but usually it is a temporary issue without long term effect. Most sediment will settle out of the water and be deposited on the stream bottom and the stream becomes clear again.  Some, however, is delivered to the oceans.  According to the BSA Soil and Water Conservation Merit Badge Pamphlet, about 1 billion tons per year from the U.S. (no wonder the sea level is rising!).  If the sediment is especially heavy, yes, it can cause serious problems to the microscopic life in the stream that will impact fish and amphibians.  Scouts – and many adults – often overlook the polluting effect of normal lawn (and golf course) care.  Does it put chemicals such as insecticides and fertilizers (lots of phosphorus) into our drainage systems that eventually end up in a stream or river?  Yes.  What about that highway treatment for snow and ice in the winter?  Pollution is not something “they” do.  It is something “we” do.  Something to think about.  Another pollution often overlooked is thermal pollution.  This can conjure up thoughts of hot water surging out of an industrial plant that has been used for cooling some manufacturing process.  However, it can also be caused – much less dramatic – by cutting trees along stream beds that eliminates shade and causes temperature of the water to rise a little.  Maybe not much, but that microscopic life that supports other life in the stream may be quite sensitive to temperature changes and could be severely altered by this “pollution”.  Again, something to think about.  There are other sources of pollution, such as livestock waste, sewage, mining waste, etc.  All of this is covered rather well in the MB pamphlet noted above.

Nature Opportunities:

As a scout leader, you can easily bring some of the above into routine talks with your scouts during outings.  Broaden their thoughts.  Not just “water pollution is bad”, but why is it bad? What is it? Who does it? Water is a resource that will only get more relevant in the future (their future) and encouraging awareness of it now might help prepare for whatever challenges come.  For any scout that seems a little more interested in water, encourage them to work on the Soil and Water Conservation MB.  Some of the requirements are discussed in this NATURE NOTE, as well as some for Geology MB.  The next time you take a sip of water, or eat a fish, or apply fertilizer to your lawn or see those cows in the pasture, think about water.  Where did it come from? Where is it going?

As always, thanks for visiting Nature Notes.  If you have any comments, please email me at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..                            

Bob Garst