Eutrophication Law and Legal Definition
Eutrophication is the phenomenon of increase of ecosystem’s primary productivity. It results from the increase in the concentration of chemical nutrients in an ecosystem. The consequential negative environmental effects such as anoxia and severe reductions in water quality, fish, and other animal populations make eutrophication similar to red tides. It results from anthropogenic pollution.
In Soap & Detergent Asso. v. Clark, 330 F. Supp. 1218, 1220 (D. Fla. 1971) the court had observed that eutrophication is "the process of nutrient enrichment of water accompanied by a depletion of oxygen". Eutrophication may be controlled by reducing the level of one of the major nutrient elements, necessary for the life of the water body, below the level essential to its life.
