Spring is such a hopeful time of year. The snow melts, the days grow longer, the sun becomes a more frequent companion and dormant flowers burst from the long-frozen ground, adding color to a morbid, brown landscape.
But spring has a dark side. The evidence is found in rivers and lakes across Michigan and other northern states where snowmelt and heavy rains are a spring (or sometimes a late winter) tradition.
The melting snow and spring rains cleanse the ground of all the detritus humans deposited on the landscape in the preceding few months. The result is not a pretty picture: Countless tons of dirt, animal waste, garbage and myriad chemical products wash off the land and into creeks, rivers and lakes.
The massive dose of urban and rural runoff turns many Michigan rivers turbid, with a hue resembling coffee that has been heavily diluted with creamer. There is no better example of this phenomenon than the Grand River in Grand Haven.
The Grand is Michigan's longest river and one of the region's most polluted. It turns a hideous shade of light brown each spring, and following heavy rainfall events, and vomits its load of filth into the azure waters of Lake Michigan.
Many people in the area mistakenly believe that sewage overflows in Grand Rapids are the reason the Grand River looks like coffee after the spring thaw and heavy rainfall events. The truth is, most of what discolors the river is dirt that has washed off farm fields, construction sites and urban areas.
It's natural for some amount of dirt to wash off the landscape, flow down rivers and into lakes. The problem is that human alterations of the land have greatly increased the volume of dirt and pollutants that drain off the landscape.
According to the EPA, a typical city block generates five times more stormwater runoff than a woodland of the same size. In fact, stormwater runoff is one of our nation's most serious water pollution problems. You can read more about it on the EPA's Web site.
Please don't interpret this post as my attempt to cast a dark cloud of environmental pessimism over the otherwise glorious season of spring. Rather, let the annual discoloration of our lakes and streams each spring serve as a reminder that how we treat the land is reflected in the surface waters we cherish.