Rivers and streams across the nation, including the Mississippi River, are getting saltier, according to a study released this month.
The increase in salt is partly because of communities in the north commonly using salt on roads and sidewalks to keep them free of ice, according to the report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Runoff from fertilizers, such as phosphorus, are also to blame for the increase.
The increase poses a risk to infrastructure and pipes, as well as to creatures that are sensitive to salt, such as amphibians, said Alex Kolker, a research scientist with the Cocodrie-based Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, or LUMCON.
“I think it has potential implications for things like pipes and infrastructures because salt can be very corrosive to both,” Kolker said. “But I do think we need more research before we go out and say it’s going to cause every pipe in New Orleans to crack."
The study looked at 232 sites across the nation and over 50 years worth of data to document the change in salt levels. Along with the Mississippi River, researchers also noted changes in the Hudson and Potomac rivers. Scientists from the University of Maryland, University of Connecticut, University of Virginia and Chatham University wrote the report.
The scale of the increase across the nation, and the Mississippi River, was a surprise to Kolker, he said.
“(The Mississippi River) has a really big watershed. It drains about 40 percent of the lower 48 (states),” Kolker said Friday. “To change the chemistry of the Mississippi River, you need to be doing something large and profound in the watershed in order to make that happen.”
-- Staff Writer Holly Duchmann can be reached at 857-2205 or holly.duchmann@houmatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter @holly_evamarie.