State will develop enforceable limit on phosphorus

After years of rebuffing pressure to limit fertilizer and manure flowing into Lake Erie, Ohio will develop a Total Maximum Daily Load for phosphorus, which causes harmful algal blooms in the western basin.

The Ohio EPA’s draft 2020 water quality report — which every two years outlines the general condition of Ohio’s rivers and lakes — says the state will spend two to three years to develop an enforceable limit on the amount of phosphorus that can be dumped into the water.

“I’ve been asking for a TMDL for the western Lake Erie watershed for over 10 years,” said Lake Erie Waterkeeper Sandy Bihn. “I consider it a victory, a good step for the lake . ... Maybe if they had done the TMDL 15 years ago, we wouldn’t be in this place where we are today.”

The bloom last year was extensive, despite the fact that a rainy spring kept many farmers from planting fields and spreading fertilizer. It grew in August to 620 square miles, more than seven times the size of Cleveland.

The size of the annual summer bloom depends on rainfall in northeast Indiana, southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio between March and July, and the amount of phosphorus that runs off farms into the Maumee River and then Lake Erie. Warm weather and less wind makes the bloom bigger, though not necessarily more toxic.

Ohio has spent millions of dollars to address the annual scourge of toxic algae in Lake Erie. Family farmers have adopted new practices, to cut back on phosphorus from commercial fertilizers flowing into the water. Cities have added expensive technology to treat drinking water for toxins.

The goal is to reduce phosphorus by 40% by 2025, under a 2016 pact with Ontario and Michigan.

Still, EPA research shows no decrease in phosphorus flowing into the lake. The state is nowhere near meeting an interim goal of 20% by 2020.

The warmer, shallower western basin of Lake Erie has been classified as impaired, meaning it does not meet state or federal water quality goals, since March 2018, when former Gov. John Kasich ended years of resistance against the designation.

The Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center then sued the state and federal EPA, accusing them of skirting the Clean Water Act by not creating a Total Maximum Daily Load for the western basin. Lucas County has joined the lawsuit, and the cities of Toledo and Oregon have been recognized as interested parties.

That lawsuit will continue, despite Ohio’s latest step. said attorney Rob Michaels.

“This appears to be a step in the right direction for Ohio, but the devil is going to be in the details,” Michaels said. “As long as the TMDL is not complete and the lake is threatened by toxic algae outbreaks, the lawsuit is not mooted.”

The state will host a webinar on the plan March 2 on its water quality report and will accept comments through March 13. In every step to decide the Total Maximum Daily Load, the state will hold public hearings and consider comments.