The creek behind my house in Boise looked clear last year, but now it's full of green slime again

I walk my dog along the same stretch of water every day. Last summer, after a big push from the city to cut lawn fertilizer runoff, the water was actually pretty clear for months. You could see the rocks on the bottom. This spring, the thick green algae is back, worse than before. I talked to a guy from the parks department, and he said it's because we had a really dry winter, so the water level is low and warm. But I also saw three different lawn care trucks on my street last week, all spraying stuff. It feels like the little rule change didn't fix the real problem, which is that everyone still wants a perfect green lawn no matter what. Has anyone else seen a local cleanup effort just fall apart after one season?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade_hernandez1mo ago

@wren_rodriguez I gotta push back a little on the "just grass clippings" thing. That green slime is basically algae feeding on the phosphorus and nitrogen from those lawn treatments, so it's not harmless at all. I watched my own creek go from clear to pea soup in like two weeks after my neighbors had their lawns sprayed, and the low water this year just makes it worse since there's less water to dilute it. The city rule was a step, but it's like putting a bandaid on a bullet wound when most people still hire those trucks without checking what's in the spray. You're right that it's a letdown, and it sucks because the creek was actually looking healthy for a few months there. Feels like we need something stronger than a suggestion to stop the runoff if we want to see real change.

jade32mo ago

Ugh, that part about seeing the lawn care trucks really hits home. It's so frustrating when you can see the direct cause right there. My neighbor's yard looks like a golf course and the runoff goes straight into the storm drain. Feels like the rule only works if people actually follow it, and a dry year just makes everything worse. Sorry you're dealing with that again, it's such a letdown after seeing it clear up.

wren_rodriguez2mo ago

Seriously though, is a little lawn runoff that big of a deal? It's just grass clippings and some fertilizer, not like they're dumping motor oil. The creek was gonna get murky anyway with the first big rain.