Floodwater threatens coastal wildlife (Maine)

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/060521floodimpact.shtml

People aren't the only inhabitants of southern Maine coping with floodwaters.

The torrential rains that forced York County families to leave their homes last week and pump out their basements also are taking a toll on wildlife habitats and forcing animals to evacuate, especially along the coast.

Polluted runoff, sewage and sediments are flooding and fouling coastal ecosystems. The most immediate danger, though, is from all the fresh water itself.

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The huge storm dumped so much rain on southern Maine and other parts of New England that coastal estuaries - zones where fresh water and salt water meet - are now virtually freshwater lakes. Salinity levels have dropped to near zero in bays and rivers, and the brown plume of stormwater has spread over the ocean along the coast.

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"How can you live in the northeast?
How can you live in the south?
How can you live on the banks of a river
when the floodwater pours from its mouth?"

--from Paul Simon's "How Can You Live in the Northeast," from WARTIME PRAYERS