Forget about oil, coal, and other fossil fuels because water is the single most precious natural resource on our planet. Without it, life as we know it would not exist. Our search for life generally begins with the search for water. Coupled with the fact that water in lakes and streams account for less than 0.1% of total freshwater on the planet, and you should begin to understand the importance of managing this precious resource.
My name is Robert Lynch, and I’m a senior at ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City. I major in Biology (Environmental Science emphasis) and I am currently working on my senior capstone project. The focus of my research is on the potential physical, chemical, and biological shift in lake characteristics brought on by the introduction of quagga mussel that may have led to the recent Microcystis accumulations.
As recent as 2014, Lake Havasu had begun to experience large blooms of the toxic Cyanobacteria, Microcystis. It’s a photosynthetic bacteria that can essentially outcompete phytoplankton, the base of the aquatic food web. Although its ancient presence is contributed to the engineering of our breathable atmosphere as we know it today, urbanization has posed it to destroy aquatic ecosystems worldwide, and pose significant health risks for all animals (including humans) who come into contact with it.
Residents of Lake Havasu City, as well as the other 40 million inhabitants of seven different western states of America, rely on the Colorado River for most of their municipal water needs. Not to mention that the river spanning over 1,500 miles supplies critical habitat to an array of wildlife, including threatened and endangered species. It should be easy to see that urbanization may play a significant role in impacting and shifting the characteristics of this water system, And that is precisely what has happened with the introduction of the invasive species, the quagga mussel.
My name is Robert Lynch, and I’m a senior at ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City. I major in Biology (Environmental Science emphasis) and I am currently working on my senior capstone project. The focus of my research is on the potential physical, chemical, and biological shift in lake characteristics brought on by the introduction of quagga mussel that may have led to the recent Microcystis accumulations.
As recent as 2014, Lake Havasu had begun to experience large blooms of the toxic Cyanobacteria, Microcystis. It’s a photosynthetic bacteria that can essentially outcompete phytoplankton, the base of the aquatic food web. Although its ancient presence is contributed to the engineering of our breathable atmosphere as we know it today, urbanization has posed it to destroy aquatic ecosystems worldwide, and pose significant health risks for all animals (including humans) who come into contact with it.
Residents of Lake Havasu City, as well as the other 40 million inhabitants of seven different western states of America, rely on the Colorado River for most of their municipal water needs. Not to mention that the river spanning over 1,500 miles supplies critical habitat to an array of wildlife, including threatened and endangered species. It should be easy to see that urbanization may play a significant role in impacting and shifting the characteristics of this water system, And that is precisely what has happened with the introduction of the invasive species, the quagga mussel.