Toxic algal blooms have been spreading throughout Lake Erie. In August, contamination left 400,000 residents in Ohio and Michigan without water for 72 hours. Now, legislators are taking steps to prevent future catastrophes by regulating farming practices.
The Ohio State House passed legislation that would prohibit farmers from laying manure on top of saturated or frozen fields, or when heavy rain is in the immediate forecast. It would also establish new rules for dumping dredged sediment into Lake Erie. Both practices are thought to cause phosphorus pollution that fuels the development of harmful algal blooms.
Manure is spread on frozen fields when farmers lack adequate storage facilities. While the farm lobby initially opposed the new regulations, Ohio’s Farm Bureau Federation now supports the proposal, which is pending a vote by the Ohio Senate.
While the legislation is a step in the right direction, tackling algal blooms will require more than manure handling practices. According to the Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, less than 20 percent of agriculture-related phosphorus entering western Lake Erie comes from livestock manure.
Most phosphorus pollution is attributed to commercial fertilizer, which is heavily used on farms in Lake Erie’s watershed. Ohio has passed a law that will require training and state certification for farmers using commercial fertilizers, but it has not yet taken effect.
Ongoing assessment and oversight is needed to balancing the needs of Ohio’s agricultural community with the health of Lake Erie, which provides drinking water 1.6 million people.
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Photo, posted June 1, 2005, courtesy of Richard Freeman via Flickr.
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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio, with script contribution from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.