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A trio of researchers that includes two from the Great Lakes Institute of Environmental Research has launched an international partnership to help solve a problem in China’s Yangtze River basin - too many nutrients.
Eutrophication is the term for the damage caused by excessive plant nutrients in the water. The nutrients spur the growth of algae and the decomposition of this plant material depletes the oxygen supply, killing fish and fouling shorelines.
It’s a process that normally takes thousands of years to progress in mature lakes. However, the use of fertilizers and the subsequent run-off of phosphates from agriculture, urban lawns, and golf courses can greatly accelerate the process.
It has become a problem in the Pengxi River, a branch of the Yangtze. Farming practices combined with changes in waterflow caused by the Three Gorges Dam have resulted in widespread eutrophication in the watershed.
UWindsor's Doug Haffner and Chris Weisener, along with Lei Zhang, a professor from China's Southwest University, gathered more than 100 experts from universities, industry and government for a workshop in China on the issue.
Sponsored by Canada’s International Science and Technology Partnership and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, the workshop launched a scientific partnership to compare concepts and standards methods and identify the potential impact of eutrophication in the ecosystem.
“The whole world is starting to see the issue of eutrophication coming back again,” says Haffner. “Nutrient enrichment is becoming a really big concern in China.”
Weisener and Zhang, co-chairs of the China-Canada Steering Committee, hope to bring aboard private sector partners from both countries looking to expand into green technology. And Weisener says the partnership should lead to solutions that can help solve the issue of eutrophication globally.
“This exchange should provide some really great opportunities for advancing green technologies with an emphasis on maintaining sustainable habitats and put Ontario on a pathway to innovative success,” he says.
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