Water Quality Trends

Nutrient pollutants in springs adversely affect the aquatic ecosystem by promoting algae and undesirable plant growth. Nitrate is one of the nutrients with a particularly harmful effect on springs. Nitrates enter the groundwater through atmospheric deposition, fertilizers, and animal and human wastes, and remain stable even as
they pass through the aquifer. An overall increasing trend in concentrations of nitrate in Blue Spring appears to have occurred since 1975. Since 1998, concentrations of nitrate have averaged over nine times the expected
background concentration. This increase coincides with visible declines in the aquatic habitat of the spring run, which is of particular concern to the Alliance.