Essay About Caldwell River Fish Dying

Fish are dying. In Country Vista, two middle schoolers discovered that a pollution problem is killing fish, disrupting the river ecosystem and negatively affecting humans.  The river ecosystem is important because it enables many organisms to have food and shelter, both directly and indirectly (“Why are Rivers So Important”). For example, humans eat fish and also consume animals that eat fish. If fish were suddenly removed from the ecosystem, the ecosystem and world would suffer consequences. This pollution problem is mostly caused by the improper disposal of oil.    

The passage of oil to the Caldwell River takes place through a series of events which starts with the improper disposal of oil into a place in the person’s yard. This usually happens when car owners are looking for a method to dispose of old oil quickly. Under an ideal situation, the oil would be disposed of into the ground and both the plants and the topsoil, the top layer of soil that contains lots of nutrients, would work together to successfully filter the oil out (“How to Keep Waste Oil Out of the Water Supply”). However, since more and more land is now covered in pavement, there is less time for the oil to interact with the topsoil. Therefore, the oil does not have enough time to be neutralized by the minerals in the soil. Then, when rain or melting snow occurs, the water experiences a process called runoff, which carries the water down into the ditch of the home. However, not just water is being carried. When runoff is occurring, oil and other minerals can be carried out as well if they have not been neutralized by the topsoil (“The Culprits”). The problem lies in the fact that the oil-infested water then moves into the Caldwell River. This carries the water and oil all the way into the river, polluting the water.

Why does this matter? Well, after moving into the Caldwell River, the water that is infested with oil starts killing fish. This matters because the ecosystem undergoes a major disruption if fish are suddenly removed. Predators that rely on fish for energy would experience a decrease and the small animals that are eaten by fish would experience an increase since there are less fish to eat them. This affects humans also because we eat both fish and animals that eat fish. Another effect of this is the pollution of soil. Oil does not just go straight into the river. It has to be carried through runoff. This means that oil does not just affect water in the Caldwell River, it also affects the surfaces along the path it took and the soil. According to Klamerus-Iwan et al., a soil’s permeability, the rate at which water molecules pass through a surface, can be decreased if oil blocks the pores of the soil. This matters because it could be the difference between fertile land good for agriculture or a place where crops can not be grown for miles. Another way in which this affects us is through the pollution of our drinking water. We use rivers for drinking water. However, if oil gets into the river, the water could be contaminated with a variety of hazardous substances such as zinc, lead, and cadmium (“Oil and Water Don’t Mix”). This could take away an important source of water and cause a water shortage or water quality hazard.

There are many different approaches that could be taken to fix this problem. However, the first approach should be education. The government needs to provide people with better information about oil and its disastrous effects on the ecosystem and make sure people know that oil does not disappear after being dumped into their yard. This will help because one of the major reasons people do not dispose of oil properly is because they do not understand the harm in what they are doing. If you provide education by posting things like infographics and ads around the town, people might be more educated about this. The next approach should be reform. You should change ditches and ditch regulations to make sure that water is not draining out into an area that is highly depended on as a base of an ecosystem. This helps because it would prevent some of oil’s negative effects. The last approach should be punishment. Inform people that if they are caught knowingly disposing of oil improperly, they will be fined with a ticket. This would deter people from improperly disposing of oil because it would cause them financial harm.

As you can see, improper disposal of oil is the major cause of disastrous effects on the Caldwell River ecosystem. The consequences of  this include reduced access to food due to a disrupted ecosystem, polluted soil, and polluted water. Education, reform, and punishment will make sure that this problem does not continue by providing more awareness about the effects of oil. However, if we do not take action soon with those three principles, the Caldwell River ecosystem could be gone forever. So make sure before throwing used oil into your yard during your next oil change, remember the harm this could cause and dispose of oil properly.