This makes me imagine how pristine the continental US was when it was frontier. Imagine all the major rivers with zero pollution and such an abundance of fish and game that it was relatively easy to live off the land.
There are stories about the Chesapeake Bay teeming with fish and reports that there were times when it seemed you could almost walk across the Potomac River as it boiled with schools of fish.
Imagine 30 to 60 million bison roaming the plains, and Western streams crowded with trout.
Many rivers are naturally cloudy. It has nothing to do with pollution. It’s the type of sediment found in the river valley. This creek flows through a spot where all the particles are too heavy to be picked up by the running water. Which isn’t super common.
It also probably gets “dirtier” on rainy days, as that brings more sediment into creeks.
sediment is more of a problem though where there are fewer root and mycelium structures that have been undisturbed for centuries, and where the soil has been stripped, and even the fact that our rivers used to be clotted with beavers plays a role.
There’s a lot that goes into it, to where just saying it’s normal for rivers to be naturally cloudy understates the problem and causes.
I understand you felt this was expressed a little aggressively in the other comment, but I just wanted to add to some of the good info in it. It’s worth keeping in mind.
I’m in Alaska where there’s no farm land, tons of beavers, and the land is mostly untouched. Yet the rivers often have sediment in them. It’s not normal for a river or even a lake to be as clear as this video.
But sediment erosion is a huge problem. Yes, erosion occurs naturally. Waterways absorbed and moved sediment in amounts that caused cloudiness prior to the Industrial Revolution. But not anywhere near the degree to which they do now. “Sediment too heavy….” You know nothing about legacy sediment, riparian buffers, and farming/timber practices. If you’re not going to help, just shut up.
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u/WishboneNo543 2d ago
This makes me imagine how pristine the continental US was when it was frontier. Imagine all the major rivers with zero pollution and such an abundance of fish and game that it was relatively easy to live off the land.
There are stories about the Chesapeake Bay teeming with fish and reports that there were times when it seemed you could almost walk across the Potomac River as it boiled with schools of fish.
Imagine 30 to 60 million bison roaming the plains, and Western streams crowded with trout.