Opinion: Unprecedented Rise in Precipitation Threatens Our Local Waterways

The haunting images of recent flooding ravishing California homes, leaving tens of thousands without power and forcing many to evacuate have been plastered across news outlets in recent days. These images serve as a stark reminder of global climate change’s devastating impact. While the Golden State may be thousands of miles away from our valley home here in the Finger Lakes region, this phenomenon is not confined to the West Coast. Increases in precipitation pose dangerous threats to our region’s beloved bodies of water. 

Similar to the increase in precipitation we are witnessing in California, the northeast region of the US has “experienced an over 70% increase in heavy precipitation from 1958 to 2010” (Department of Environmental Conservation, 2023). How does a “heavy precipitation” increase affect the Northeast? It means longer, more frequent, and more intense precipitation events across the region, and for us in the Finger Lakes Region, A dramatic increase in flooding and runoff. 

And we’ve already begun to feel the effects of this increase in precipitation here in Ithaca. Think back to 2018, when severe flash flooding swept through Tompkins County throughout the Spring and Summer months costing thousands of dollars in damage to homes and roads. Not only do these events cause destruction to property and infrastructure, but they have an unnoticed negative effect on our waterways. 

As the amount of overall precipitation and heavy precipitation events increases, so too does the amount of runoff that occurs. Runoff occurs when more precipitation falls in an area than the land can absorb. This excess water then flows across the land surface until it reaches its final destination, our lakes, rivers, and watersheds. The issue with runoff is that It picks up pollutants along its travel and deposits them in whatever body of water it ends up in. The introduction of these pollutants into aquatic environments can have devastating effects on ecosystems. 

One of the most noticeable consequences of this sort of runoff is harmful algae blooms (HABs) also known as blue-green algae, whose presence is all too familiar to any Ithaca resident who spends their time on Cayuga Lake. HABs are a result of agricultural runoff, in which excess rainwater traveling from agricultural areas enters a body of water. It is common for farmers to apply chemical fertilizers, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, to their crops in order to increase agricultural production. While these fertilizers are very effective and beneficial for farmers when applied intentionally, problems can arise very rapidly when these fertilizers are transported by runoff to surrounding bodies of water and watersheds. When these fertilizers enter bodies of water they greatly accelerate the growth of algae blooms.

HABs pose severe negative effects on both aquatic ecosystems and humans alike. According to the EPA, HABs “produce extremely dangerous toxins that can sicken or kill people and animals” (Environmental Protection Agency, 2023), thus making recreational activities in the water dangerous. The overgrowth of HABs also leads to what is known as “dead zones”, in which “the overgrowth of algae consumes oxygen and blocks sunlight from underwater plants” (Environmental Protection Agency, 2023). These “dead zones” can have devastating impacts on aquatic ecosystems. In Cayuga lake alone there were “12 confirmed HAB occurrences in the lake from 2013 through 2017” which is especially concerning as the lake is the primary/backup drinking water source for “nearly 100,000 watershed residents” (Department of Environmental Conservation, 2023). 

The unfortunate truth is that as long as the climate continues to change the amount of flooding and runoff Ithaca experiences will as well. Despite this, there are steps we can take to reduce its negative impacts on our lives and ecosystems. According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, “only 10 to 20 percent of the rain that falls in…natural areas runs off, with the rest absorbed by soil and plants, where it is filtered before reaching aquifers or local waterways” (Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 2023). By contrast, rain that comes into contact with concrete in urban areas becomes almost entirely runoff. Thus, one way residents can work to reduce runoff entering our waterways is by increasing the number of natural areas that the rain falls on. One interesting and affordable way to do this is to plant a rain garden. A rain garden is a depressed landscape area positioned around a home’s roof or along driveways and roads. They consist of grasses and perennials which not only collect excess water but also filter out the harmful pollutants in runoff before they reach our waterways.