Culverts that offer adequate aquatic organism passage reduce impediments to movement of fish, wildlife and other aquatic life that require instream passage.

The fresh water also provides a habitat for aquatic organism such as salamanders and freshwater shrimp.

Similarly, fish and other small aquatic organisms can be effective bioindicators of water pollution.

These fast-growing aquatic organisms can be grown in salt water, municipal wastewater lagoons, or in shallow manmade basins in the desert where no other crops can survive.

Most previous investigations have focused on levels of pollutants in the water, since it has been difficult to quantitatively measure trace contaminants in aquatic organisms themselves.