By Tom Dayton
In 2014, Toledo’s water system was shut down for three days due to a toxic algae bloom in the western basin of Lake Erie. The toxins from the algae are such that it’s not safe to drink, cook with or even wash a car with the water.
Out of frustration and with outside state money, Toledo passed the Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR) which then gave an inanimate object a new bill of rights and for which its surrounding communities could sue farmers for polluting the lake creating a legal and expensive nightmare for all concerned.
While other pollution sources are the cause for Lake Erie’s woes, most experts agree that the majority of its problem or 85% is from agricultural runoff.
Recently, one farmer that was sued pushed back and with help from the Ohio Farm Bureau, the bill was deemed null and void in court.
In 2019, the legislature approved Governor DeWine’s H²O initiative that provides 172 million dollars over a two year period. Governor DeWine, in his address to Farm Bureau members at a luncheon on February 15, 2019, stated that he views the Lake Erie problem as long term and originally wanted 900 million dollars over a ten year period and for which he will return to the legislature again.
Another bill sponsored by the Governor is House Bill 7 that was recently approved by the legislature. It will provide funds for the soil and water conservation districts to help farmers with water quality issues and identify specific watersheds within the region with the appointment of one watershed planning and coordinating manager in each region.
Previously, Governor Kasich had provided three million dollars for water quality issues; however, most of the funds went to water treatment plants with very little going to aid farmers in the quest for algae free water.
Other areas of the country have trouble with water quality. One of the worst is the Gulf of Mexico in the area of the Mississippi River Delta where the water is laden with farm runoff of nutrients. Another is the Chesapeake Bay area in which farmers with state aid have been largely successful in cleaning up the bay although they are not done yet.
One successful method of controlling farm runoff and improving the soil productivity is cover crops that reduce erosion and improve the soil tilth that allows infiltration of water into the soil instead of running off.
Roger Baker, Ohio Farm Bureau State Trustee, stated for state senator Christine Roegner on February 15, 2020 in her office that the land he farms (about 3500 acres in Wayne County) the cover crops have so improved his soil that he doesn’t know how he ever farmed without them!
While the near future looks bright for the restoration of Lake Erie and other watersheds, problems will still remain with nitrates and herbicides besides excess phosphorus that are harmful to aquatic life and people that depend on water for drinking.
It’s unlikely that the water quality in Ohio and elsewhere in the country will ever be restored to the pristine quality before white settlement but is rather the goal that citizens and governments can work towards. Also, one goal in which ordinary citizens, farmers, environmental groups and governments can all agree.