Founded in 1993 by the United Nations, this global day of observance highlights the need for the care and management of the world’s water resources. This year’s theme, “Water and Food Security” highlights the relationship between water and global food supplies. While the larger issue of food production may seem removed from Surfrider Foundation’s mission of protecting oceans, waves and beach, they are very much linked. Here’s how:
- Fertilizers and pesticides used in current farming methods are polluting our ocean waters through runoff. For example:
Nutrient runoff from the Mississippi River has created a 22,000 square kilometer dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. That’s an area the size of New Jersey!
One third of the Chesapeake Bay – one of the world’s most productive fisheries – cannot support life due to nitrate and phosphorous runoff from nearby chicken farms.
With the EPA eliminating the funding for water quality monitoring and reporting programs, how will we know if the water we surf and swim in is safe from pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers and other toxins? And without essential water testing data and results, we won’t even know how much nutrient runoff is reaching our oceans and we won’t be able to hold blatant polluters responsible.