Before Settlement

Settlement & Industry

Channelization

Flooding

Human Impact

Current Management

Bibliography

Human Impact

Pollution ~ Sedimentation

Numerous pollutants such as soil, agricultural chemicals, livestock manure, fertilizers, pesticides, leaky landfills, and waste in the atmosphere that mixes with rain, snow, and sewage stormwater have affected the quality in the Mississippi River. Most of these pollutants stemming from the increased human use of the land surrounding the Mississippi or its tributaries.  The quality of the river water must be tested, as volunteers are doing in the picture to the right.

Runoff is the most damaging effect on the river, impairing it so much that some areas cannot be used for fishing or swimming. 

Length                       Classification for Fishing and Swimming
129 miles                         (15%) Fully supporting
365 miles                         (41%) Partially supporting
365 miles                         (41%) Not supporting
31 miles                           (3%)    Not assessed
(McKnight Foundation 36)

State and federal policy has been a major factor in preventing further contamination of the river. The most influential was the Federal Clean Water act of 1972. The act has established three goals:

1. To restore, and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s water.
2. A national goal that the discharge of pollutants into navigable waters be eliminated by 1985.
3. Make all waters swimmable and fishable. (League 17).

Section 301 of the act states: "Except as in compliance with (specific provisions of) the Act, the discharge of any pollutant by any person shall be unlawful. (League 17).
The section took the pressure off the government when before they used to have to prove that the discharge was harmful to the river.

The act helped set standards for the quality we should expect from our water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) works closely with the states to set how they measure the quality of the water in their state. Many problems arise from each state having the right to set their own standards. The state determines what each section of the river they control should be used for and then determines the level of contaminant they will tolerate. However, each uses a different test, and since it is expensive, some areas are poorly monitored or not assessed at all (McKnight 38).

The overall quality of the river is hard to measure because of the areas that are not assessed because of lack of funds or labor. In 1987, the EPA added a new provision to the Clean Water Act. It required states to identify all the areas of the river that do not meet the water quality standards, find the source of toxic pollution, and establish permits to control their release. 17, 000 waters around the country were found to not meet the water quality standards (League 20). Little was done to fix the problem.