Canal Conflict

First off I feel that a compromise needs to be made, because the canal does sever over half a million Indiana Residents, but also holds a large number of Turtles that make their home in the canal. If the company doesn’t dredge that portion of the canal, it will most definitely hurt their ability to filter and clean the water, so it is able to be used by humans, and if they don’t it would most likely lead to an increase in the price of water, which will also hurt the everyday families that use the water. On the other side, turtles and other organisms have made their home in the canal ever since it was completed, and the new project would definitely lower the number of turtles in not eradicate them. I feel that to make a honest conclusion to this problem, more investigation needs to be done, to find a better way for the water company and the turtles to live and subside together. I feel that Zoology would be very useful in this situation, because it could help find ways that would either not, or minimally affect both parties. If the project is permitted in its current state, I feel that the turtle population will be decimated, and that would create an imbalance in the ecosystem, which could cause further damage to the surrounding area. I think that if there was a trait that could help the turtles in this situation, it would be that if there eggs did not need to be embedded in the ground and could float on the surface instead. Although this would solve one problem, it would create another problem for the Turtle eggs, predators. If the eggs floated, they present an irresistibly easy meal, that none of their predators would pass up, it would effectively make them sitting ducks. To legitimately answer this question, more investigation into alternative methods would need to be completed.