More About Storm Water and Fertilizer

City Hall asserts that most river pollutants from storm water come from the first half inch of rain in a storm. Could it be that the river would be less contaminated if more water was mixed with these pollutants? If so, why is the city trying to reduce the amount of storm water entering the river? Could more water clean up both the river and our back yards?

Until 1968, most of the area now called Gallup Park was a big water-cleaning swamp. The 1968 flood cause the Dixboro Dam to fail. The swamp dried up and all the wetlands vegetation died. It was several years later that the dam was repaired. Meanwhile, the city dug a huge trench through the former swamp, installed a new sewer main, and regraded the land to replace most of the swamp with the islands and open water, thus creating a lot of the park area. Would it be a good idea to undo some of this and create some more swamp to clean up the river? Could we do the same thing above Argo dam and get more swamp while improving the area for the rowers at the same time? Does anyone at the Larcom Building ever think about anything other than more regulations and charges?