week 13 blog: water in Maricopa County

I looked up the pollution report card based on my zip code, 85251, which is in Maricopa County. I decided to focus on the water quality of Maricopa County because honestly, the report included the amount of animal waste that was in the water. To me, that is absolutely repulsive and disgusting, so I wanted to find out the truth and see what is really in our water. Looking at the statistics of tons of animal waste per state in 1997, it was reassuring to see that Arizona was not number one on the list, but rather thirty-sixth. Arizona is in the 20% range of surface water with impaired or threatened uses. Arizona is also above 50% of the national average of the number of impaired water bodies. Pesticides constitute 40% of the pollutants and/or stressors of surface water in rivers, streams, creeks in Maricopa County. One of the main issues in Arizona is the lack of rain fall and natural lakes, rivers, and creeks. Most of the year, one witnesses dry riverbeds, creeks, and lakes. Therefore, when it does rain or the melting snow flows south into riverbeds, creeks, and lakes, it usually carries the chemicals, pesticides, sediment, and other debris along with the water. The assessed use attainment of the water quality in Arizona and Maricopa County specifically is either considered serious or that there is insufficient data to determine the quality of it. A very good example of this is the Slide Rock National Park in Sedona, Arizona. The majority of the time there are warnings to the public that it is not safe to swim or play in the water. I can remember as a child going to Slide Rock and thinking that it was like a water park in nature. Now, I cannot remember the last time that Slide Rock was open or a time that the public were advised not to go into the water because of the potential health hazards. The fish and wildlife advisories of the water quality indicators in Maricopa County are interesting. Of the 15 watersheds in Maricopa County, 5 of them have a rating of more serious quality of conditions for fish and wildlife consumption and the remaining 10 areas have insufficient data. This would obviously discourage anyone from consuming the fish that they may happen to catch anywhere in Maricopa County. In high school, I was on the Xavier College Prep crew team and we trained at Tempe Town Lake. I always saw people fishing down at the lake and always wondered why they would even bother. We would always find dead fish either on the beach or floating in the water, and the lake just smelled awful!!