Mark Weaver wrote:

Sigh--it has nothing really to do with more people. It has to do with
outdated sewer systems ....

There is a need to upgrade sewer systems but that is treating just one
symptom of the primary problem which is "too many people". We can put a
band aid on acid rain with scrubbers to, etc etc. but none of these
"solutions" address the real source of the trouble. Those old sewers
were adequate just 50 years ago. They leaked raw sewage then too, but
the amounts were small enough for the streams and lakes to recover.
That's no longer true because we have so many people making too much
sewage for both the "antiquated" plants and for the rivers they dump
into.

As a teen we used to dive in a beautiful kelp forest. It's an underwater
desert now, thanks to LA sewage. We used to chase jackrabbite across the
Mojave too. Damage was inconsequental because there were so few of us.
Now it'd be criminal to do the same - not for 2 or 3 bikes but for 20 or
30,000! There's just as much desert but now there's too many people to
permit riding in it. There's just as much air and water too but .... )c: