Bayou vs Green Lawns

 Of recent concern.....algae seems to be taking over parts of the Bayou and mudflats.  This bothers me as I have never seen it this bad before.  In a couple of the lower places in the marsh, the algae is thick and blocks the access runs in and out of the pools.  Any fish that are in the tide pools during high tides cannot get out if they wait too long into low tide.  They then become entangled in the long strands of algae in the shallow water. The top of the water is covered with the algal bloom. Like any other plant, the algae does produce oxygen through photosynthesis during the daytime hours.  It uses less oxygen at night than was produced during the bright of day.  However, if something impedes this production..say cloudiness...then the production may be less than consumed.  This can cause a depletion of oxygen in the water causing fish and crustaceans to struggle.  Add this to the problem of escaping to clean waters and the outlook is dire for the critters.  

  The Bayou is filled with many such deep holes and shallow tide pools.  Let any sealife get caught in these places by falling tides and there are likely to be fish kills.  This is not good...not good at all.  Just yesterday, I was remarking that my Bayou seemed healthy.  Then this evening, a whole new scenario has emerged.  In just thirty-six hours, things have changed.  This change could be caused by the recent heavy rains washing extreme amounts of nutrients from the well-kempt yards across the Bayou.  These folks have no problem dousing their lawns with fertilizers and chemicals every week.  When a torrential rain comes, those same chemicals wash into the waters of the Bayou and sink to the bottom.  Algae takes advantage of these nutrients and hot weather conditions to rapidly reproduce.  The run-off is slowing killing the Bayou. As early as this afternoon, the bullminnows were starting to gasp for breath.  Hundreds were trapped in the shallow tide pool just beside the pier.  It was heart-wrenching to say the least.

  Until the tides change and some high tides with strong winds can disperse the gunk trapped in the tide-pools and deep holes, the fish, crabs and water fowl need to steer clear of the area.  There is not a lot I can do about this whole situation other than try to educate folks about their "run-off".  With folks who desire a gorgeous lawn versus a healthy Bayou and Bay, I can talk myself blue in the face and never succeed in limiting the amount of toxic chemicals laced in the ground.  "WE MUST HAVE GREEN LAWNS!"  Ok, ok, but I really do not want a green Bayou and dead fish!  What to do? What to do?