Article: A Big Rebel Yell: The Deep South has more than its share of H2O woes

Not getting the title of Ole Man River for being anything other than a wet and lazy monster, the Mississippi River is the chief river of the largest drainage system on the North American continent. It flows the entirety of the United States and its watershed even spreads into Canada. It originates in northern Minnesota and slowly creeps its way south for 2,320 miles to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana.

Meantime, the Mighty Ohio is hardly dwarfed by Ole Man River. At the confluence at Cairo, Ill., the Ohio is considerably bigger than the Mississippi in water volume [the Ohio River at Cairo emits 281,500 cu ft/s (7,960 m³/s while the Mississippi River at nearby Thebes emits 208,200 cu ft/s or 5,897 m³/s].

In Florida earlier this winter, state officials had to drain Lake Okeechobee, a large inland lake in southern Florida, for what they just simply referred to as 'toilet water'. Lake Okeechobee this year has experienced its highest water levels in nearly a century due to heavy rains that fell during the month of January. Industries along the banks of Lake Okeechobee dump chemicals, fertilizers, and cattle manure into this large water mass, according to a Feb. 25 report from ClimateProgress.

David Guest, managing attorney of the Florida branch of the environmental law group Earthjustice, called the lake a "toilet." While the pollution was once confined to the lake, it now flows toward Florida's coastal communities via local rivers. The water, which is flowing out of the lake at 70,000 gallons per second, will soon pollute the ocean waters in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, ClimateProgress reports.

"This pollution has immediate consequences for southern Florida's environment and economy," ClimateProgress continues. "The untreated water contains toxic chemicals and fertilizers that are harmful to local flora and fauna, and the fertilizers and chemicals found in the water are known to cause algal blooms, which are known to poison shellfish and make life difficult for the marine food chain. Dawn Shirreffs, a senior policy adviser at the Everglades Foundation, told ThinkProgress that there have been reports of dead fish being found along the coastline. This is especially concerning since many species will migrate to Florida to seek comfortable water temperatures this time of year."

"The local economy, much of which is driven by tourism, will also be negatively affected by the polluted lake water. In 2013, the last time a significant water discharge occurred in southern Florida, locals dubbed the season the "lost summer," due to the downturn in tourism and beach-going as a result of the polluted coastal water. In 2015, FloridaRealtors, a trade organization representing the Florida real estate industry, commissioned a study assessing the impact of water pollution on home values in Martin County, Florida. The results were alarming. During the 'lost summer,' aggregate real estate value fell half a billion dollars, as potential buyers were reluctant to buy or invest in property that was near water that was both toxic and objectively disgusting," ClimateProgress states.

So southern hospitality and charm go out the window when water woes become so threatening and ominous that not only do they affect local economies, but the well-being of humans, wildlife and vegetation. Big business has long been looking toward the Deep South because of a business friendly attitude, its Right to Work states, and its ambivalence towards labor unions. But the South has a definite redneck side when its water and land resources become damaged and polluted almost beyond repair. Expect a lot of rebel yells in southern courtrooms in the near and distant future - things have become litigious and nasty.

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