How Do Storm Drains Affect Organisms in the Aquatic Ecosystem?
Storm drain runoff affects the physical and chemical characteristics of the stream which in turn affect the organisms that live there. In small amounts,these effects are not always negative but because Emigration Creek is in an urban area it is constantly being altered further away from its natural state by human activities. Physical Disturbances When suspended solids are carried in by storm water they cloud the water which prevents light from getting to the algae living there. This prevents algae such as diatoms and Cladophora from photosynthesizing and the productivity of food for the stream is halted or slowed. Even when these solids settle, they blanket on top of algae growing in the stream, which has the same effect. This affects the organisms higher in the food web that use algae as a food source such as Mayflies and Caddisflies and other aquatic insects. When storm events occur many organisms that don’t have adaptations to hold onto a substrate are carried away downstream. This
