Lake Erie Algae Article DFP

[Javelin360]

I can't believe what I am seeing on lake Erie It has gone from bad to worse. The Algae before this big blow was as bad as what I had scene on ST. Marys before it was deemed off limits in 2010. Here is an article from the Detroit Free Press.




Tributaries of Lake Erie aren't catching fire as they did a half-century ago.
But by several important measures, the lake -- generally considered the bellwether for the health of the other four Great Lakes -- has declined to a point as bad as or worse than it has ever been.
Researchers believe this year's mass of algae at the western end of the lake, which borders partially on Michigan, probably has set a new record. And the dead zones in the central part of the lake also may be the largest ever. It won't be enough to rest on the legacy of the work done cleaning up Lake Erie in the 1960s and 1970s, a point driven home during a massive gathering of clean water agencies and advocates in Detroit last week.
Although industries have cleaned up their act and generally sustained good practices -- hence the end of burning rivers and the decline in terrifying contaminants -- the lakes face a series of ongoing assaults and new threats barely foreseen in the 1960s.
Good policy, sustained funding and intensified research are essential. Lovers of the Great Lakes must demand action -- or risk reversing all the hard work done in previous generations.
Lake Erie's decline must be seen as call to action

Something is going very wrong in Lake Erie.
And that means something is going very wrong for Michigan, whose economic and cultural health is so dependent on keeping the Great Lakes vibrant and clean.
Scientists have long believed that as Erie goes, so go the other four, because problems affecting them all have the biggest and most obvious impacts first on the shallowest of the five lakes.
With Erie's health in jeopardy, years after herculean efforts to clean it up, there's a dire need to take action before it worsens -- and spreads.
In August, for example, the view from space showed algae spanning almost the entire western basin of Lake Erie. Well into this month, stringy swirls and vast nearshore swaths remained.
The algae can choke out other life. It creates even more problems -- and stink -- as it dies off. And the mass of algae in Lake Erie is increasingly dominated by more toxic varieties that already have been known to poison pets.
Research to date suggests the problem arises from a combination of agricultural practices and the weather.
But no one can do much about the weather, in this case the increase in major downpours that flush fertilizing phosphorus off fields rather than helping it soak in. Last spring was particularly rainy, almost certainly a factor in this summer's algae growth.
Another factor, tentatively identified by University of Michigan research Donald Scavia, is a trend toward fall fertilization on farms, rather than waiting to do it entirely in the spring each year.
Among the confounding factors: Back when Lake Erie was in trouble before, researchers knew that keeping soil on the fields would also help keep fertilizer on the fields. Farmers made dramatic improvements in reducing the sediments that got swept away -- only to find now that the phosphorus somehow escapes on its own to nourish the algae.
Continued agricultural research can presumably solve the riddle of timing and placement of fertilizer, but it must be done quickly and it must be well-funded.
Meanwhile, climate trends are hardly in Lake Erie's favor.
The frequency of heavy rains began increasing in the 1990s, Scavia said, and is expected to double by the end of the century. A longer growing season -- one of the potential pluses of climate change, in some people's view -- also gives algae more time to grow each year. At least one new type of algae has been found, and the mix of algae types runs heavily toward those that have toxic qualities.
The lake's dead zones also are growing. They occur when decaying material, such as from algae, takes up so much oxygen that none remains in the water for fish and other biological entities that need it.
And Toledo, whose water intake is perilously close to where major algae blooms can form, now spends an additional $3,000 to $4,000 a day on filtration to keep its drinking water safe, according to a University of Toledo researcher.
Scavia's research suggests that the arrival of zebra and quagga mussels in Lake Erie has not been a determining factor, although it's hard to believe they don't contribute at least a bit to the problem. As for fertilizer types, agricultural studies to date suggest the problems are just as severe in tributary basins where farmers don't use liquid manure as in those where they do. And since farmers would rather grow crops on their fields than algae in Lake Erie, they are very likely to follow whatever guidance they can get on fertilizing -- but someone has to figure it out first.
And the explosion of algae, in all its complexity, is only one of the problems facing the lakes.
Issues old and new

Several groups joined together last week in Detroit for Great Lakes Week, making all of the serious issues highly visible. This unprecedented event offered the best opportunity yet for everyone involved with the lakes to mingle, to work toward maximum coordination of research, restoration and activism, and to speak with one voice in Washington and Ottawa, and in state and provincial capitals.
The problems are both new and old -- algae in Lake Erie being the best example of an old horror story spinning off an even more frightening sequel.
The other threats are equally large, and often as complex:
• Invasive species: A newer problem, the ongoing threat of invasive species continues to top most people's lists. There's no doubt they have upset, and perhaps decimated, the balance of food for fish in the lakes, in addition to other problems they cause.
• Overflows and runoff: After strong progress on upgrades to sewage treatment plants decades ago, storm-induced overflows increasingly put more waste into the water again. Combined with the effects of surface runoff, that impact shows most obviously on beaches that must be closed to swimmers after major rainstorms.
• Contaminants: The lakes face other, less visible threats, too. The ban on dioxins and PCBs led to a decline of their presence in the lakes, but they still show up in fish tissue. And so do many of the chemicals that replaced them. Pharmaceuticals and compounds used in personal care and cleaning products are detectable in the water, too. Dangerous substances such as mercury continue to drop into the big lakes and inland waterways, washed in by rain after they've risen from the smokestacks of sources such as coal-fired power plants.
Glimmers of hope

The most encouraging news involves parts of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and other projects that have begun to take hold.
The Great Lakes Legacy Act, the result of a long campaign by former U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, has gathered enough steam that some of the region's biggest toxic hotspots are being dredged out and restored. Within a year, three of these spots will be ready for delisting from their Areas of Concern designation. Over the next two-year cycle, assuming consistent funding, five areas are to be cleaned and delisted.
Restoration activities appear to have exploded this summer. Wetlands have been restored, land-based invasive species have been cleared out, partners have worked together along shorelines and riverbanks all across the basin to improve water quality and wildlife habitat in areas that feed the lakes. Several of these projects got targeted to accompany work at Areas of Concern, so the newly cleaned spots will also be newly welcoming to wildlife -- and people.
And, as beautiful as the lakes are, people remain the bottom line. Beauty has little value if the water doesn't meet the three priorities for human use: drinkable, swimmable, fishable. Lake Erie is coming perilously close to being none of those things. As a harbinger, it is a call to action.

[Raybob]

The Maumee drainage includes all of NW Ohio, NE Indiana and SE Michigan -> that means that Grand Lake St Marys, that is in your article above, also drains it's poo-water into Lake Erie via the St Marys river which dumps into the Maumee in Ft Wayne Indiana.

The Maumee has the largest watershed of any Great Lakes river[5]with 8,316 square miles (21,540 km2). Its watershed includes a portion of southern Michigan. In addition to its source tributaries the St. Joseph and St. Marys rivers, the Maumee's principal tributaries are the Auglaize River and the Tiffin River, which join it at Defiance from the south and north, respectively.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maumee_River#Watershed

Each year NW Ohio increases the number of mega-livestock farms that add more & more algae food (krud) in addition to the numerous current farming methods to the Maumee River drainage (flat farmland) along w/ the larger cities of Celina, Ft Wayne, Findlay, Lima, Defiance, Napoleon, Bowling Green, Toledo & etc numerous smaller towns > Lake Erie gets everything & we had heavy spring/summer rains so the system got a good flush this year. Everything that I have read points to the Maumee drainage as the major problem. This problem will increase every year until major changes are made to the Maumee system ( the great-slit ditch to Lake Erie )...

[rebs]

WOW I am getting an education on this problem with all the articles I have read lately. This is a huge problem. I hate to think where it could end.

The real problem is nobody thinks they are individually responsible by degree, and collective and exponential consequence. "nobody" includes you and me as well as the more visible perps. It will take zero tolerance law enforcement with bankrupting penalties/confiscation; otherwise it's just sunk cost.

[Raybob]

In addition to the No#1 Maumee River the No#2 smaller Sandusky River drainage system has the same problems along with the even No#3 smaller Portage River system all of which drain the flat rich farm fields of NW & Central Ohio. This area was called the Great Black Swamp until it was ditched for farming...

[T Mac]

Yep...and read up on Lake Winnipeg.
Similar problems are appearing in a number of lakes out in the middle of nowhere.
But... if they receive water from rivers that drain areas of fertilized crops, or concentrated cattle operations, or less than perfect sewage systems ....these bodies of water, are all having problems.
More so in a wet year.
The more run-off, the more algae.

[Ruddiger]

Originally Posted by Raybob

The Maumee drainage includes all of NW Ohio, NE Indiana and SE Michigan -> that means that Grand Lake St Marys, that is in your article above, also drains it's poo-water into Lake Erie via the St Marys river which dumps into the Maumee in Ft Wayne Indiana.
Each year NW Ohio increases the number of mega-livestock farms that add more & more algae food (krud) in addition to the numerous current farming methods to the Maumee River drainage (flat farmland) along w/ the larger cities of Celina, Ft Wayne, Findlay, Lima, Defiance, Napoleon, Bowling Green, Toledo & etc numerous smaller towns > Lake Erie gets everything & we had heavy spring/summer rains so the system got a good flush this year. Everything that I have read points to the Maumee drainage as the major problem. This problem will increase every year until major changes are made to the Maumee system ( the great-slit ditch to Lake Erie )...

Howdy,

Sadly I couldn't agree more, having lived there (Auglaize County) for about 14 years. I also believe the improvements in field tiles also exacerbated the problem as big rains, combined with the quick draining capacities of the tiles, causes what can only be described as a giant high-speed toilet flush into the watershed.

Now that I'm back in Cleveland, however, I see a different problem with all of the fertilization that goes on with yard care. While the acreage is different, the collective impact isn't all that different, its just harder to point a finger at.

Take care,

Ruddiger

[pepe]

thats a good point that ruddinger makes about the field tiles super flushing the chemicals into the river systems. but they have been around for many years and i dont think they are going to go away. just as we had to do away with phosphorous in our laundry detergents they are going to have to find a substatute in their fertilizers....pepe

[yarcraft91]

Originally Posted by pepe

just as we had to do away with phosphorous in our laundry detergents they are going to have to find a substatute in their fertilizers....pepe

Laundry and fertilizer are two very different things. There are substitutes for phosphorus in laundry detergents, but plants can't grow without it- phosphorus is an essential element for all known forms of life.

Another big difference between laundry and fertilizer- phosphorus in laundry water goes directly into the rivers and lakes, while soil ties up phosphorus and keeps it from moving far or fast. If homeowners and farmers would have their lawn's soil tested, they might find the phosphorus levels so high that no more is needed. The lawn fertilizer I use is 20-0-10, a phosphorus-free product. So, the key is soil testing and a rational fertilization program.

[PeterB]

That's very good point Yardcraft. Perhaps the news media agencies should be notified of it.


Not having fished Erie yet I find all this very fascinating and a good read.


The great lakes face many challanges, here in Chicago it's the Asian Carp dilema.


Thanks for the post.