Did you know that dead zones in rivers are becoming more common every year? Fish are dying in Country Vista and it’s caused by the large amount of fertilizers people use in their gardens. The aquatic life in the rivers of County Vista are being damaged and it is all because of these horrid chemicals. Since fertilizer travels quickly and fertilizer has many damaging effects on aquatic life, people in Country Vista should use natural fertilizers to prevent the fish dying from the high amounts of fertilizer.

Over one thousand fish have been killed due to fertilizer runoff into the oceans and it's extremely damaging to ecosystems. According to North Dakota State University(NSDU), “When manure or commercial fertilizers enter surface water, the nutrients they release stimulate microorganism growth. The growth and reproduction of microorganisms reduce the dissolved oxygen content of the water body. Without sufficient dissolved oxygen in surface water, fish and other aquatic species suffocate”(Berg et al.).This piece of evidence perfectly supports the fact that fertilizer harms aquatic life and it could cause bigger problems in the future. Unfortunately, fertilizer doesn’t only harm life by suffocation. Fertilizer causes plants to grow, which sounds good at first; until it becomes too much. The text, Ocean Service, states, “Nutrient pollution is the process where too many nutrients, mainly nitrogen and phosphorus, are added to bodies of water and can act like fertilizer, causing excessive growth of algae.” Algae is normally beneficial to an ecosystem but an overgrowth can start to cause problems. The algae become toxic and start to cause oxygen depletion. Fish will then usually die from lack of oxygen, most commonly at night. Then, when the algae die, decomposers use lots of oxygen which depletes even more dissolved oxygen in the water. 

Many do not know how fast fertilizer travels through the surface and groundwater. That is an issue because people use excessive amounts and in the end, it goes through runoff. The runoff then leads to the ocean and/or other bodies of water, harming the life in it. But how does it get there? Well, according to Leisure Pro., “Applying fertilizer impulsively results in overfertilization. While overfertilization often happens in farms, it can occur in home gardens as well. Even when the right amount of fertilizer is applied, it can still harm the environment when it is not applied at the right time and location, or in the correct form.” This shows that you have to fertilize at the right time and use the right amount of fertilizer to not harm the environment. Citizens in Vista might not follow these rules, causing the fertilizer to go into the ditches, leading to the ocean. That's also a problem because fertilizer is extremely toxic. Leisure Pro writes, “While nitrate in itself isn’t toxic to animals, it can cause an illness known as nitrate poisoning when it is found at high concentrations.” Unfortunately, fish can get nitrate poisoning, which kills them in less than 24 hours. This is a huge problem and needs to be stopped. The well-being of aquatic life in Country Vista depends on it. 

To stop this environmental problem, we need to advise the public on how much fertilizer they should be using for their lawns. The average lawn is usually about 10,000 square feet. According to Rutgers,“One pound of nitrogen or mixed fertilizer is recommended per 1,000 square feet of lawn and your particular fertilizer contains 20% nitrogen”(Heckman). This means that people should only use about 10 pounds of fertilizer for their lawns and gardens. To stop the problem, we could also ask people to use composted soil from compost bins instead of fertilizer. It would be much better for their gardens and the environment. According to Money Crashers, “When you gather a heap of plant waste together in one place, it breaks down into a dark, crumbly substance called humus that makes a nutrient-rich fertilizer for home gardens or other landscaping projects”(Livingston). There is no doubt that people want good fertilizers that help the environment and their gardens. Compost bins also require very little maintenance. Perhaps checking on it once a week and dumping the natural food wastes once a week would make a compost bin extremely effective. As a community, we need to work together to solve and end this problem and keep our waters clean and fish thriving. 

One may argue that the fertilizer isn’t why fish are dying. They may believe that it’s the dog’s waste because it takes up the oxygen after it decays and can sometimes cause weed and algae growth (Greenscapes). But the high amounts of fertilizer are the only way the fish  are dying. According to sciencing.com, by using excess fertilizer“These oxygen-poor conditions can lead to reduced biodiversity and cause large fish-kill events, where many thousands of fish die from suffocation.” The overgrowth of algae causes oxygen depletion, which leads to oxygen-poor conditions.

In summary, the fish in Country Vista are dying due to the high amounts of fertilizer people use in their gardens. Fertilizer travels quickly through our runoff and is damaging to life. People should use natural fertilizers or use the correct amount..  If the citizens continue to ignore the fact that their gardens are harming our environment and the fish, we may soon have no more fish left! Natural fertilizers are easy to access for everybody and won’t harm the fish. They can cost a low fee of $20! When we could significantly decrease the amounts of dead-zones, why would we increase them? We need to act now.  Mother Nature is depending on us!

Citation:

Degnan, B. (2021, April 20). The 16 Best Compost Bins for Indoor and Outdoor Use, According to Reviews. Better Homes & Gardens. bhg.com/gardening/yard/compost/best-compost-bin/

Livingston, A. (2021, November 29). Composting 101: How to Make Compost & Fertilizer at Home. Money Crashers. moneycrashers.com/composting-make-compost-fertilizer-home/#:%7E:text=Composting%20is%20simply%20a%20way,gardens%20or%20other%20landscaping%20projects.

M. (2021, May 19). Nitrate Poisoning in Aquarium Fish: Causes and Cures. Aquanswers. aquanswers.com/nitrate-poisoning-fish-aquarium/

Heckman, J. (2003). FS839: How to Calculate the Amount of Fertilizer Needed for Your Lawn (Rutgers NJAES). Rutgers. njaes.rutgers.edu/FS839/#:%7E:text=One%20pound%20of%20nitrogen%20or,applied%20per%201%2C000%20square%20feet.

 Blakey, D. (2015). Fish Kills in Backyard Ponds. ANR Blogs. ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=18305

Staff, L. P. (2020, April 16). The Damaging Effects of Fertilizers on Marine Ecosystems. Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog. leisurepro.com/blog/ocean-news/damaging-effects-fertilizers-marine-ecosystems/#:%7E:text=Fertilizers%20reach%20different%20marine%20ecosystems,into%20nearby%20bodies%20of%20water.

What is nutrient pollution? (2021). National Ocean Service. Retrieved March 11, 2022, from oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/nutpollution.html

Berg, M., & Meehan, M. (2017, October). Environmental Implications of Excess Fertilizer and Manure on Water Quality — Publications. North Dakota State University. ag.ndsu.edu/publications/environment-natural-resources/environmental-implications-of-excess-fertilizer-and-manure-on-water-quality

Dog Waste Brochure. (n.d.). Green Scapes. greenscapes.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Dog-Waste-Brochure.pdf

K. (2019, November 18). How Does Fertilizer Affect Aquatic Ecosystems? Sciencing. sciencing.com/how-does-fertilizer-affect-aquatic-ecosystems-13425670.html