GCC Team Awarded NSF Grant
Headwater streams, which comprise 70% of all watersheds, are becoming more and more contaminated by salt. The seemingly innocuous compound is making its way into the streams and groundwater as a result of agriculture, mining, urbanization and wastewater discharge, leading to headwaters becoming more and more salty. This phenomenon, known as salinization, has been slowly changing the composition of the freshwater streams, and is having a detrimental effect on the resident microbes and animals which inhabit those waters. Changes to these ecosystems can alter the entire freshwater food web, which can have devastating effects on many species and less known large-scale environmental impacts.