HOW HEALTHY ARE LOCAL WATERWAYS?
Numerous threats loom, experts say, and solutions will be costly.
Runoffs carrying contaminants from agricultural and urban development throughout Southwest Ohio are flowing into the region’s waterways, and experts say that threatens the aquatic ecosystem, drinking water, human life and infrastructure.
The problem will hit taxpayers and property owners in the pocketbooks to the tune of millions of dollars if more is not done to reduce those storm water runoffs, experts say.
“One way or another, we’re going to pay for having unhealthy streams, because if you show me an area where the streams are not doing well, then I’m going to show you an area that has probably a lot of bank erosion problems, or possibly having to deal with going in and fixing roads that are washing out and people’s backyards eroding,” said hydrologist Mike Ekberg, manager for water resource monitoring and analysis at the Miami Conservancy District. What’s contaminating the region’s surface water?
Increasingly, land use and the kinds of practices around streams and rivers are greatly impacting the physical habitat, Ekberg said. Natural buffers on the banks of rivers and other waterways, including trees, bushes and other vegetation that slow runoffs, have been removed, and farms and housing developments often come up to the channels. In addition, hard surfaces — concrete, asphalt and roofs — make it difficult for water to drain into the underground
aquifer.
Without those buffers, rain water from farms and urban development runs into streams, rivers and lakes.
The pollutants in the area’s water include remnants of fuel products, building mate- rials, fertilizers, manure, tar, pesticides and a potentially deadly group of chemicals called per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances — or PFAS. Hundreds of streams throughout the region transport the runoffs to larger bodies of water such as the Great Miami River in the Dayton area and Gregory Creek in Butler County. The chemicals also seep into the Buried Valley Aquifer — where the majority of communities in the region get their drinking water — and travel as far as the Gulf of Mexico.
Meanwhile, streams take on much more water than they can handle, causing erosion, flooding and damage to private property and infrastructure.
The problem is not unique to Southwest Ohio. It is a nationwide issue that states and the federal government have been working to solve. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has developed programs and made funding available to states to reduce pollution. Ohio has also created programs.
Financial impact
Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico, disrupting the ecosystem and impacting the fishing industry and communities along the way.
They also stand to damage infrastructure and private property. In Englewood, an Runoff, especially when unnamed stream that flows there’s heavy rainfall, flows into the Stillwater River is directly into local waterways. causing erosion near that The many streams and creeks city’s wastewater treatment in the region drain a large plant. The erosion started part of the watershed and about six years ago, and it’s bring fertilizers, pesticides, being affected by both climate pathogens and emerging conchange and human action, taminants from farms to the Ekberg said. area’s larger surface water, Several trees on its banks said Abinash Agrawal, an have either fallen or will soon earth and environmental scifall, and much of the vegetaences professor and ground- tion has washed away. water remediation expert at “We’ve had some intense Wright State University. In rain events that have led to big addition, animal waste from flows going through here in large hog or cattle farms can this stream channel,” Ekberg drain into nearby creeks. said, pointing to the erosion
That waste can contain about 3 feet from a chain link pathogens, antibiotics and fence on the property, some other pharmaceuticals given of which the Miami Conserto the animals, all of which vancy District owns. “The volalso travel to the surface water ume of water going through and eventually into the aqui- it was way higher than what fer, Agrawal said. the stream channel can carry.
In addition, rivers and So what it’s trying to do is other bodies of water through- enlarge to accommodate the out Southwest Ohio take on bigger volumes of water.” discharges from wastewaConservancy district offiter treatment plants. Cercials know they have to tain micropollutants are not take action to prevent the removed before the treated fence line from falling into water is released in the rivthe stream, but Ekberg said ers, Agrawal said, such as they’ve not ironed out the prescription drugs and hor- details. mones. Rapidly eroding streams
“They may be bad, but exist throughout Southwest we don’t know the ramifica- Ohio that threaten other tions,” Agrawal said. infrastructure and private properties. For instance, at Trails of Four Bridges subdivision in Liberty Twp. in Butler County, Hunts Creek — which flows into Gregory Creek — has caused erosion in various places. Some backyards and roads are on the verge of being sucked into the streams.
How contaminants are polluting water Perhaps the region’s most polluted lake
Grand Lake St. Marys, which stretches between Mercer and Auglaize coun- ties, is perhaps the most polluted lake in the region. It’s in such bad shape that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources frequently issues notices asking people not to get in the water.
The lake is over-enriched with phosphorus and nitro- gen because an excessive amount of fertilizers flow into it, Agrawal said. The supply of nutrients causes blue- green algae to grow excessively, which takes over the lake’s food chain. The algae then produces toxins that are harmful to aquatic crea- tures and humans. Excessive algae growth also depletes oxygen in the lake, causing fish and other creatures to die, he said.
In an attempt to treat the water, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources installed two wetland treatment “trains” to provide a natural way to slow down and filter nutrient-rich sediments from water before it reaches the lake, said Stephanie O’Grady, the agency’s spokeswoman. ODNR plans to add additional treatment trains in the near future, she said.
The pollution and erosion is already affecting people’s pocketbooks, as the cost to treat public water supplies has increased because of emerging contaminants and infrastructure repair, said Chris O. Yoder, research director at the Columbus-based Midwest Biodiversity Institute. The cost will continue to rise to the tune of millions of dollars over time in each community, he and others say. In addition, quality of life will be disrupted if people aren’t able to fish, swim or boat if the lakes are contaminated.
But the answer is not to stop farming or building new communities. Instead, experts said better solutions are needed to prevent runoffs from polluting the water.
“The challenge is trying to find a balance between the need to protect a community’s supply of drinking water and not being a burden to economic activity,” Ekberg said. ”I think a community can serve both needs, but it requires some planning. The Surface water such as the community needs to have Stillwater River and Gregory an understanding of where Creek are healthy, Ekberg its supply of drinking water said. But they could dete- comes from and where that riorate as nearby streams supply is most vulnerable to deposit excessive amounts of contaminants from human sediments in them. The sedactivities. Those high vuliments then travel through nerability areas need to be
Erosion, crumbling infrastructure
protected.”
Possible solutions
Lane Osswald of Preble County is one of many farmers in the region who have taken steps to curb runoff and erosion. His family owns farms in Preble and Montgom- ery counties, and they do not till the land, he said. No-tilling keeps the soil firm to the ground, preventing it from washing away —along with nutrients and other chem- icals — during heavy rain.
Another technique Osswald practices is cover crops, which is to grow a different crop when his main crops — corn, soybeans and wheat — are not planted. Growing something at all times slows erosion, improves the soil’s health, retains water and increases biodiversity.
In addition, Osswald sam- ples the soil every four years to ensure there’s not an excessive amount of nutrients, which are expensive and can wash away into local surface water. the 2020-2021 two-year bud
“Based on that and which get is $172 million, and it’s crops we’re going tobe grow- currently available to farming, we add no more nutri- ers in the northern part of ents than we need,” he said. the state. It’s not clear at this
There’s no silver bullet time when the program will to solving the pollution and be available to Southwest erosion problem, so it will Ohio farmers. require multiple solutions, Agriculture aside, the Ohio said Jordan Hoewischer, Environmental Protection director of water quality and Agency provides technical research at the Ohio Farm assistance to builders for Bureau Federation. issues related to controlling
Educating the public as well stormwater that might affect as farmers isa major step, he water qualit y, said Dina and other experts said. The Pierce, an agency spokesfarm bureau has been work- woman. The agency issues ing with farmers to help them more than 2,000 general find solutions and allowing stormwater permits annuthem to understand the scially, she said. ence and research behind Since 2003, applicants covnew techniques and maybe ered under Ohio EPA’s gentweaking old techniques, eral stormwater construche said. tion permits are required
They’ve also appointed to install and maintain best farmers to government promanagement practices to grams such as H2Ohio, a com- treat stormwater. prehensive water quality iniOther entities such as water tiative that Gov. Mike DeW- conservancies and county ine launched in 2019. Its pur- and local organizations are pose is to begin the long-term more focused on managing process of reducing phosstormwater for commercial phorus runoff from farms and development purposes. through the use of proven, “These organizations are science-based nutrient man- doing good work, but it’s also agement best practices and true that sometimes streamthe creation of phosphorus-filbank erosion is a part of the tering wetlands. stream naturally re-establish
H2Ohio’s initial funding for ing its banks,” Pierce said.