August 2, 2017 marks the three-year anniversary since residents of Toledo awoke unable to drink their water due to toxins from a harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. The harmful algal bloom that caused the Toledo disaster was not an anomaly: Harmful algal blooms have been increasing in the last decade not just in Lake Erie and parts of the other Great Lakes, but also in our inland lakes and rivers, including a more than 500 mile long bloom in the Ohio River in 2015. Millions of dollars spent on testing and treatment have been able to provide clean drinking water since 2014 despite algal toxin detection at water intakes. In the last three years, what has been the response to address the runoff pollution responsible for fueling the algal blooms? And, is it enough?
ACTION TO DATE
Several positive, constructive steps have been taken. The Ohio General Assembly passed SB1 prohibiting the application of fertilizer (with some exemptions) on frozen, snow-covered ground or saturated ground; the State of Ohio made loans available for public water supplies and wastewater treatment plants to upgrade testing and treatment facilities; the Ohio Department of Higher Education committed several million dollars to address critical science questions regarding water treatment, public health, ecological impacts and how nutrients migrate from fertilizer applications on farm fields into streams to ultimately fuel the algae.
The agricultural community is implementing a certification program for farmers and farm service dealers to ensure nutrient management on participating farm fields minimize the potential for runoff and maximize crop use of those nutrients. Agricultural groups have contributed funding to support on-farm research that will help us understand which management practices and in what combination will make the most difference in reducing runoff off from farm fields.
USEPA and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service have funded agricultural management practices necessary to prevent runoff from farm fields.
NOAA provides forecast services that enable stakeholders to understand the projected magnitude of the bloom each spring and provides bi-weekly updates during the bloom season. The spring forecast is developed in partnership with several universities using nutrient load data from Heidelberg University. These analytical tools, along with ongoing stream monitoring, are critical for understanding how Lake Erie is changing and importantly, how we need to better manage our land and water resources.
IS IT ENOUGH?
So with all of the steps that have been taken, including an investment in the science to better understand the ecological dynamics and impacts, are we likely to see change? NOAA predicts a larger than normal bloom for 2017, a 7.5 on a scale of ten and the 2017 bloom is likely to be the third largest bloom on record. We seem to be a long way from seeing improvements.
A bi-national commitment between the U.S. and Canadian governments adopted a 40 percent phosphorus reduction target under the bi-national Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Currently, governments on both sides of the border are working on plans to meet that 40 percent reduction.
WHAT’S MISSING?
We need these plans to have definitive management actions that will keep nutrients on farm fields and prevent discharges from point sources. And we need these plans to identify how resources at the federal, state, local, both public and private, will be leveraged together to produce a synthesized, coordinated effort. In the United States, we need to fully utilize the programs and authorities in the Clean Water Act to meet the goal. And all of us, those who care about our public health and water resources, need to hold our policy leaders accountable for implementation of these plans so that the target goal can be met. We must also ensure there is commitment to the analytical tools we need to understand a changing environment. Ultimately, we need a healthy Lake Erie and early summers when we no longer dread the annual algal bloom forecast.
About the Author:
Gail Hesse serves as director, Great Lakes water program, for the National Wildlife Federation. She is the former executive director of the Ohio Lake Erie Commission.
Early Saturday morning I was abruptly woken up by a neighbor knocking on the door. He actually then opened a window, saying “Don’t drink the water! Don’t let the kids drink the water!”
My first thought was algal blooms, as already this summer, these blooms were growing in Western Lake Erie. Last September, Carroll Township in Ohio had to shut down their water system for four days because of algal blooms. Now it was happening to my town, Toledo.
I looked online, and, sure enough, the local newspaper had a flash at 2 a.m. that the City of Toledo issued a warning of microcystin in the water. Microcystin is the worst product of an algal bloom—it’s a toxin that induces vomiting, diarrhea and liver damage. An incident down in Brazil with contaminated water killed 75 people.
Algal Blooms and Wildlife
National Wildlife Federation has been engaged in this issue for years. Not only can algal blooms contaminate drinking water supplies (this one left 500,000 people in the Toledo area without clean water), but it causes major damage to ecosystems.
The problem for wildlife isn’t so much the toxin (which is still harmful) as the algae itself. The threat comes from hypoxia of water, as algae die and then consume oxygen during decomposition, oxygen which is needed by fish to survive. That drives fish elsewhere, adds to their stress and disrupts reproduction.
In addition, birds (and especially waterfowl) are susceptible to the microcystin. High levels in Lake Erie might lead to liver lesions, and similar blooms in the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of California were linked to the deaths of great blue herons and California brown pelicans.
The City of Toledo draws its water from an intake structure 2 miles out in Lake Erie, which unfortunately is centered right in the heart of the algal bloom. Wind and current had bulls-eyed the algal bloom right at the intake out in the Western Basin.
Surveying the Damage
National Wildlife Federation President and CEO Collin O’Mara traveled with reporters on a boat tour to the intake site yesterday. He said the situation is part of a larger issue:
“There’s a systematic challenge we face here in the Great Lakes region that’s much bigger than the current water crisis in Toledo,” Mr. O’Mara said, referring to climate change and how scientists believe it has exacerbated algae blooms in recent years. “If we don’t get our arms around it, we will see property values decline, tourism decline, and wildlife impacted, too. I encourage everyone to consider the broader issues.”
A Long-Term Problem
Algal blooms happen because of farming practices, how we put our fertilizer on our lawns, stormwater runoff and discharge from municipal wastewater systems. Toledo also feels the impact of Detroit pumping their wastewater into Lake Erie up-current from our shores. All these things exacerbated something that, fundamentally, has been going on for a few years now.
Add to this, climate change, which is the threat multiplier for all those vectors, fueling extreme weather events. The Great Lakes region is experiencing much more frequent and extreme precipitation events. The largest watershed in the Great Lakes has had a 37 percent increase in heavy precipitation, and more rainfall and snow is pushing nutrients and pollution into streams and into Lake Erie.
This event happened in the middle of the night, but it didn’t happen overnight. The lake is reaching a tipping point from all this phosphorous and pollutants. The water is getting warmer and more polluted, and threatening wildlife and habitat.
Since 1958 days with heavy precipitation have increased over the region by 31 percent. Climate models predict this trend to continue in the Great Lakes, with wild swings between heavy rain events and intensely dry conditions.
As the climate changes we can expect more river events like these:
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Mayor George Heartwell declared a state of emergency as more flooding is expected. The water is predicted to crest at 22 feet.
Even the Grand Raggidy Roller Girls are going to have to find a temporary place to bout, or will need to put on flippers instead of skates. Their facility is now underwater.
East Lansing, Michigan
The Michigan State University Fight Song begins like this:
On the banks of the Red Cedar,
There’s a school that’s known to all; …
Right now, the banks of the Red Cedar and parts of Michigan State campus are underwater. The river crested at 7.9 feet Monday morning, above the 7-foot flood stage. Relating even more to the Fight Song – it is the athletic fields left waterlogged.
Chicago, Illinois
The Des Plaines River was twice its flood stage on Sunday. According to readings by the National Weather Service the river crested at 9.98 feet. The Des Plaines River is amongst these other rising rivers: Fox River, Rock River, DuPage River, the north branch of the Chicago River, and Salt Creek.
Jonathon Monken, director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, said
Based on the forecasting right now, we expect to meet and exceed flood levels—historic flood levels … So record flood stages are absolutely possible.
Flooding also required closure of several local forest preserves to the public. The Brookfield Zoo closed its gates for only the third time in its history.
Toledo, Ohio
Northwestern Ohio is experiencing a very wet April. Over the past weekend more than 2″ of rain fell in many parts of far northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan in a 48 hour period. The Maumee River is about a foot above flood stage at Defiance, and it is nearing its crest.
Spring Flood Risk Forecast
NOAA released a springtime flood risk map for the Great Lakes and the United States.
Want to know more about the impact heavy rain and flooding has on Great Lakes wildlife and what to do about it?
Learn more in this detailed report: Taken by Storm!