The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
GOOD NEWS ON TAP
Stormwater management a key to better Lake Erie water quality
It has been a good spring, summer and early fall for the central basin of Lake Erie.
That is the consensus of public health officials in Lake and Lorain counties whose duties include daily monitoring of the chemistry of Lake Erie water used by millions of Ohio residents for recreation and as the primary source of treated tap water.
“Water quality in Lake Erie is always improving,” said Daniel Lark, director of environmental health for the Lake County General Health District. “At the health district, we put a lot of effort into making sure things don’t get into the lake that cause its water quality to degrade.”
“Stormwater management is critically important because most of that water ends up in Lake Erie.” — Jill Lis of Lorain County Public Health
Jill Lis, director of environmental health, emergency preparedness and epidemiology for Lorain County Public Health, said collaboration across the public spectrum contributes to the maintenance of good water quality in Lake Erie.
“From government entities to businesses, farms and individuals with lawns, everybody needs to take ownership of our great lake. This lake cannot be taken for granted,” Lis said.
Regular testing of Lake Erie water by public health agencies at widely used parks and beaches provides an accurate read on the water’s general quality. The tests are for Escherichia coli, or E. coli, a bacteria that causes intestinal distress in humans and animals.
Those tests are taken during the heart of swimming season, from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Lake County General Health District does its testing at Headlands State Park in Mentor and Fairport Harbor Lakefront Park.
This year, poor water quality advisories forced 21 closures at Headlands State Park and 15 at Fairport Harbor Lakefront Park. Those totals were down from 39 and 33, respectively, in 2017.
“We had a good swim season,” Chris Loxterman, environmental health supervisor for Lake County General Health District.
Lorain County Public Health tests at Lakeview Beach and Century Beach in Lorain, Lakewood Beach and Community Park Beach in Sheffield Lake and at Miller Road Beach Park and Veterans Beach in Avon Lake.
Beach closures were up this year at all those locales, from a high of 28 at Lakeview Beach to lows of 11 at Community Park Beach and Miller Road Beach Park. The totals in 2017 were 22, 8 and 8, respectively.
Lis explained that testing was still done at Miller Road Beach Park this year despite the fact the park was closed because of a rise in the lake’s water level.
Lake County General Health District also recorded higher lake water levels in its area of jurisdiction in 2018.
There were no algae blooms in the central basin during the summer of 2018, reported Lake County General Health District and Lorain County Public Health.
Algae blooms have become an annual issue in Lake Erie’s western basin. In 2014, Toledo’s water system took in lake water containing high concentrations of cyanobacteria that contaminated the city’s supply of drinking water with a toxin that can result in liver and kidney damage.
Customers were forced to use bottled water for three days. The economic impact was estimated at $65 million.
For at least the last 20 years, the cornerstone of efforts to improve Lake Erie’s water quality has been stormwater management. Those efforts are enabled at the legislative and administrative levels level by the Clean Water Act of 1972, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the U.S. and Ohio Environmental Protection agencies.
“Stormwater management is critically important because most of that water ends up in Lake Erie,” Lis said.
Many topics with direct application to maintaining the quality of Lake Erie water will be addressed during the Great Lakes Beach Association and Great Lakes Water Safety Consortium Joint Conference on Oct. 23-24 at the DoubleTree Hilton in Independence.
Lorain County Public Health tests at Lakeview Beach and Century Beach in Lorain, Lakewood Beach and Community Park Beach in Sheffield Lake and at Miller Road Beach Park and Veterans Beach in Avon Lake.