There is much more work to do. Each year an area of the Gulf of Mexico of approximately 6,000 square miles becomes so starved for oxygen that most marine life cannot be sustained. By 2025, the world will need 62 percent more fresh water to maintain current standards of living, thus making protection of our existing freshwater resources a top priority. For example, the parasitic spores that cause whirling disease in some fish flourish in polluted, nutrient-rich waters, but have a hard time surviving in healthy waters. An estimated 3.1 million tons of sediment, coal and chemicals wash down the Susquehanna River from New York to the Chesapeake Bay each year.
Scientists believe that such buildup threatens aquatic life.
It is the area of Lake Ontario or all the lakes in Minnesota combined, or six times larger than the entire TVA system of reservoirs, or almost as many acres of water as are now being managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.