We are supporting billions of people on this planet thanks to the Green Revolution. Of course you have to watch things like runoff, and there have been regulations up the wazoo on these things for years. I have an uncle who's a dairy farmer.

And remember when they took phospates out of detergents?

What bugs me is the new religion of deprivation and submission that, for some people, seems to be fundamental as a solution to these problems.

My pond is on its own. Stringly algae blooms in the summer, and I let it. It fixes the nitrogen in plant form, and I scoop it out by the handful periodically. This year I've acquired duckweed too. I have a thriving population of mosquito fish and snails. Once in a while a dragonfly nymph crawls out, sheds, and flies away. I've tried to get tadpoles to set up shop, but not much luck so far. Only chemical I use is a treatment to neutralize chloramine in my water when I top the pond off from the hose.