Susquehanna River's poor health is killing smallmouth bass

By -
LANCASTERONLINE
The collapse of the smallmouth bass fishery on the lower Susquehanna River may be the "canary in the coal mine," presaging future health problems to more fish and animals in the river, as well as devastating a recreational economy, a new report says.

Since 2005, 80 percent of the bass have disappeared between Sunbury and the Conowingo Dam. Fingerling bass are dying, ugly lesions and splotches are appearing on adults and eggs are showing up in the testes of male fish.
The cause: A "perfect storm" of high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, rising water temperatures believed to be at least partly due to global warming and a mix of chemicals from sewage plants, says the report, released Thursday by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
wow. no shit ! we all knew that there was a problem and now i ask WHYWON'T DEP LABEL IT IMPAIRED ??????????????? SERIOUSLY. and guess what. i'd say start looking at all the farms upriver and commercial and industrial sites UPRIVER that may contaminate the river and sewer plants and power plants.
April 25, 2013 at 8:57 PM
Anonymous said…
Wonder whether any river cabins' "sewer systems" contribute to the contamination?
April 26, 2013 at 9:24 PM
Anonymous said…
The columbia borough should look in on the cabins at the river. Tell the people of columbia if its safe!! Lets do your job Barry Ford!!!!!
April 27, 2013 at 7:30 AM
Anonymous said…
comes from UPRIVER, like farms, power plants, commercial and industrial sites along the river.
April 27, 2013 at 8:31 AM
Anonymous said…
Columbia Borough needs to settle once and for all the "mystery" surrounding how the sewage...from the cottages along the river and the cabins on the islands...is disposed of. This needs to be public knowledge. If it is being dumped directly into the river, WHY is this accepted. Someone is looking the other way and what is the benefit of keeping your mouth shut?
April 27, 2013 at 10:51 AM
Joe Lintner said…
Yes, I wonder about that.
April 27, 2013 at 12:12 PM
Joe Lintner said…
Yes . . . about these "sewer systems" - where and what are they?
April 27, 2013 at 12:13 PM
Joe Lintner said…
I wonder what gets dumped into our river - our drinking water supply. I don't trust drinking the water. Now, the Columbia Water Company wants a rate hike, which of course will be granted.
April 27, 2013 at 12:29 PM
Anonymous said…
WOW REALLY???? DO YOUR RESEARCH - ITS WHAT COMES DOWN THE RIVER !!!!! LIKE THE HUNDREDS OF FARMS 1ST AND FOREMOST, THEN SOME INDUSTRIAL PLANTS, COMMERCIAL BLDGS. NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS, MORE FARMS AND EVERYTHING FROM ABOUT 500 MILES UP ABOVE US (FROM NEW YORK) IS ALL FLOWS ONLY ONE DIRECTION - DOWN !!!!!!!!
April 28, 2013 at 7:51 AM
Anonymous said…
ALL the water flows downriver hence the FACT that ALL the Susquehanna River up to the beginning in New York flows into the lower Susquehanna........the first problem runoff I believe would be FARMS !!!!!! Has anyone from say DEP actually investigated industrial sites that sit on the edge of the Susquehanna ??? and what the heck about A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ??? we all know what happened back in 1979 and the near meltdown and the radioactive water....i think y'all are barking up the wrong tree.
April 28, 2013 at 8:00 AM
Anonymous said…
I would have to say I agree! The mighty Susquehanna flows down - and we all know that and have witnessed it dozens of times.....we have all seen ALL the trash, rubbish, wood, whole trees, personal belongings, boats, jet skis, coolers, bags of mulch, railroad ties, and only God knows what else....runoff from hundreds (or thousands) of farms along with all the manure and feces of cows, pigs, chickens, etc etc, that flow down river to here and continue down to Safe Harbor Damn......during heavy rains, storms, snow, ice, etc. This is something that has been damaging the mighty Susquehanna for decades.
April 28, 2013 at 8:37 AM
Anonymous said…
Excellant points!!!! and how true.
April 28, 2013 at 2:01 PM
Anonymous said…
Have to agree. For decades there were no concerns no resources no reason to think all the farms would do such damage. Now the past decade or longer they know it. I believe they have programs and grants for farmers to stop the erosions and the runnoff from their farms!
April 28, 2013 at 6:57 PM
Anonymous said…
Makes sense....We are at the end...and EVERYTHING flows down. I have to say I agree with above statements about the farms and their runoff and also industrial and commercial sites that sit right along the river.
April 29, 2013 at 6:47 AM
Anonymous said…
I agree too. Does anyone test, investigate, go on site to ALL these contributing factors/buildings, farms, plants, etc and see for yourself ? This is something that should be done regularly or yearly.
April 30, 2013 at 6:55 AM
Anonymous said…
This is even more proof! Now tell me WHY doesn't DEP label the Susquehanna as "IMPAIRED'
The river is MORE than impaired. It is downright SICK. It is in DIRE STRAITS. It is in need of EXTENSIVE INTENSIVE CARE. None of this makes any sense.....I do NOT understand DEP....what do our State Representatives have to say about this? I would be interested to hear what State Rep David Hickernell says about it.....I can't imagine he likes it any more than we do.
April 30, 2013 at 9:27 PM
Anonymous said…
What a good point! The Boro is spending millions and millions on the River Park and guess what??! The Susquehanna River is sooo sick that maybe NO ONE will want to fish it, or kayak or boat on it, or jet ski, etc. I really have NO idea how the Boro thinks the River Park will be the answer to their prayers.....when its sick, polluted and dying more every day. SOMETHING MUST BE DONE NOW.
May 1, 2013 at 6:42 AM
Anonymous said…
Unfortunatelly we have a "very sick Susquehanna River" and NO ONE wants to do anything about it....what's wrong with this picture??? Has the DEP and whatever other agencies that would be involved looked at ALL the hundreds or thousands of farms along the river the whole way up to New York (where the river starts) and have they also looked at the Power plants, ALL the industrial and commercial sites situated along the river...This should have been done years ago...but..most likely it stilll hasn't been.
HOW CAN ONE NOT LABEL THE "SUSQUEHANNA" "IMPAIRED" OR "SICK" OR
"THREATENED" etc. etc. WE ALL NEED TO CONTACT OUR State Reps. to be sure they are indeed aware of this tragic situation ! THIS IS WHERE THEY COULD/SHOULD SPEND THE $2 MILLION - NOT ON A RIVER PARK THAT SURROUNDS A SICK, DYING RIVER.
May 2, 2013 at 7:04 AM
Anonymous said…
you see NO ONE cares about Columbia. We continue to get a bad name mostly from all the transients that move into the Boro. They are NOT born and bred Columbians. Actually, there are fewer and fewer of those around...because after ALL these years they SIMPLY can NOT afford to live here anymore. Why? Because the managementof this BORO does EXACTLY what IT wants to do..even though it will cost the taxpaying homeowners THOUSANDS, TENS OF THOUSANDS AND YES EVEN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR SOME OF THIS BS. Stop the nonsense. Its time for Boro Council to STEP UP AND DO WHATS RIGHT FOR THE MAJORITY OF HOMEOWNERS - NOT THE FEW.
May 4, 2013 at 7:09 AM
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