These plants also feed and protect many of the foods we eat, including fish, crabs, ducks, and geese. When water is cloudy, it is said to be turbid. When loose soil from construction sites, bare lawns, and eroding shorelines washes into a wetland, sediment levels rise. Excess nutrients in runoff promote the growth of algae, which also clouds the water. Rain, wind, waves, tides, animals, and various human activities can all stir up these suspended solids and increase turbidity.
Turbidity blocks the sunlight that is so vital to aquatic life.
Fish, oysters, and other gilled creatures suffocate when their gills are clogged by sediment. The deeper the disk is visible, the clearer and less turbid the water. Secchi disks are used in water that is fairly deep and slow or still. For shallow wetlands a turbidity test kit can be used. Procedure List as many sources of sediment as you can.