A day after the Ohio EPA declared the western end of Lake Erie to be an impaired waterway, agency director Craig Butler said, “The time has come that we can’t rely on voluntary programs” to reduce nutrient runoff that feeds algal blooms in the lake, reported Associated Press. To address the problem, the state announced a set of new proposals to reduce runoff from farms and wastewater plants.
The state has a goal of reducing phosphorus runoff into the lake by 40 percent in seven years. Data clearly point to agriculture as the biggest source of the pollutant, said AP. To date, the state has relied on voluntary steps, such as installation of structures to control storm water. The state also has banned spreading manure and fertilizer on frozen or water-soaked fields.
Under the new proposal, the state would designate distressed watersheds — the areas that are the largest sources of nutrient runoff — and require farmers in those areas to reduce the amount of fertilizer and manure that runs off their land. The Ohio Farm Bureau says the state may be rushing into new regulations before it’s clear if rules put into place a few years ago are working.
Another part of the package, said AP, would tighten water quality standards at sewage plants throughout the state with the goal of removing more than 2 million pounds of phosphorus that passes through them into waterways each year.
State legislators would have to approve the proposals.