The Ohio Lake Erie Phosphorus Task Force

August 24, 2010 Update

Julie Weatherington-Rice, PhD, Adj. Asst. Prof. OSU Dept. Food,

Agricultural, & Biological EngineeringSr. Scientist Bennett & WilliamsCo-coordinator OFFWG (OAS)

Presented on behalf of the Ohio Fracture Flow Working Group

NASA 4/2/08

After Decades of Work to Reduce Sediment Loading to the Great Lakes, Changing Agricultural Practices

are Still Delivering High Sediment Loads

NASA 4-2-08Western Basin

What Triggered This Crisis Now?

Blue-Green Algae Invasion of Western Lake Erie Fueled Blue-Green Algae Invasion of Western Lake Erie Fueled by Soluble (Dissolved) Reactive Phosphorus (S/DRP) and by Soluble (Dissolved) Reactive Phosphorus (S/DRP) and Nitrogen Arrived Autumn 2006 & has Continued to Grow Nitrogen Arrived Autumn 2006 & has Continued to Grow

Needs Nutrients, Warm & Stagnant Water to ThriveNeeds Nutrients, Warm & Stagnant Water to Thrive

Photo 4-3-07, Sandy Bihn, Western Lake Erie Waterkeeper

Maumee Bay State Park shoreline

By June 2007, the beaches on Maumee Bay were matted with a new Blue-Green Algae - Lyngbya

Wollei

Photos: Susan Rice, 6-22-07

To get to open water, have to walk over dried and blooming toxic algal mats

and then wade through toxic algae in the water – in flat settings a 10 to 30

yard trek or more

Near-shore and beach conditions just west of Maumee Bay State Park June 2007

To Respond to the Crisis, Ohio EPA Phosphorus Task Force

formed Spring 2007 to determine causes and possible solutions, Agricultural Practices in the Watershed appear to be the major source of nutrients

Lyngbya WolleiBenthic mats become buoyant and float to surface

(Maumee Bay State Park)

Lyngbya WolleiBenthic mats become buoyant and float to surface

(Maumee Bay State Park)

T. Fisher

That Fall we learned…

~30 Task Force Members from: Columbus Dispatch 9-07

Federal Agencies – US EPA, USGS, USDA ARS & NRCS

State Agencies – Ohio EPA, ODNR-DSW & Wildlife, ODA, OSU Sea Grant & Ext, Ohio Lake Erie Comm.

Local Agencies – Henry SWCD, NE Ohio Regional Sewer Dist

Academia –Heidelberg, Ohio State, U Toledo, Case Western

Scientific Organizations – Ohio Academy of Science OFFWG

Producer Organizations – Farm Bureau

Also Guests - Many backgrounds

A Comparison…

60 - 70’s Cladaphora Blue-green algae

Anabaena Aphanizomenon

Microcystis not dominant

90’s – Today Cladaphora Blue-green

algae Microcystis -

dominant Lyngbya wollei

first appeared in 2006

A Comparison…

Why it Matters

Microcystis produces taste and odor problems

Microcystis may produce a toxin: microcystin

Animal poisonings Skin contact may cause allergic rash If ingested, toxin damages the liver Lyngbya Wollei forms mounds & floating

mats: recreation & navigation hazards

P Task Force Approach

Identify all possible sources of SRP Quantify what we can with existing data

sources Consult with topical experts Consult peer-reviewed publications Identify relative contributions from

possible sources Develop recommendations

Identified Sources: Agriculture ~90?%

Animal Feeding Operations – all forms manures land applied

Uncontrolled Pasture-based animal operations

Commercial ag fertilizer – surface & over-applied – soil buildup

Municipal WWTP Biosolids & Biosludges applications

Rural stormwater runoff

Delivery – surface runoff & tile drainage to streams/ditches

Recent Changes in Agriculture

Larger farms, larger fields and larger equipment Larger equipment has multiple functions,

potential changes in the timing of fertilizer applications, more broadcast applications

Larger, heavier equipment may be leading to soil compaction

Changes in crop rotation resulting in changes to fertilizer application

Changes in fertilizer formulations

Timing, amount & incorporation are key

Identified Sources: Urban/Residential ? %

Residential fertilizer applications Golf course fertilizer applications Urban NPS stormwater runoff Delivery – overland & storm sewers to

streams & rivers / retain in rain gardens Established lawns need NO

phosphorus

Lawn Care Fertilizers

Products designed for turf management have low P levels

“All Purpose” products can have high P levels, but not a primary market product

Homeowner practices greatly influence potential for runoff

Localized problems can occur, but not a widespread problem

Identified Sources: Internal Loading ?%

Zebra & quagga mussels Mayflies burrowing Sediment resuspension Regeneration under anoxic conditions Dredging & shipping impacts Delivery – Internal to the Lake

PermanentSedimentation

Pre-mussels Post - mussels

Buildup andRecycle ofPhosphorus in Biomass,Mussels,Gobies,Cladophora(green algae)

Export ofPhosphorus andSediment todeep water andpermanent burial

Much of the input to lakes comes from tributaries.

In deeper water the probability a particle will remain in sedimentpermanently is highest. ( L. Ontario traps >80% of P input.)

Thus, offshore concentrations tend to be lower than those near shore.

algaebacteria

Identified Sources: Point Source ?%

Wastewater treatment plants Combined sewer overflows Industrial dischargers Household septic systems Orthophosphate in drinking water Delivery – Out of pipe into stream/river

Public Water SuppliesOrthophosphate Many Public Water Supplies began to add

anti-corrosives to the distribution systems in the mid-1990s

Compared PWS phosphate data with WWTP effluent

No discernable increases of phosphorus discharges detected at WWTPs

Concluded that any contribution from municipal wastewater treatment plants is nominal during non-storm conditions

Identified Sources: Other ?%

Streambank erosion Changing weather/storm patterns Natural release from soils/bedrock/glacial

materials Precipitation Birds/insects/wild animals Delivery – watershed & direct

Warm & Stagnant Water – How Much of the Problem?

Power plant cooling waters Industrial cooling waters Global warming Delivery – straight to lake Cooling towers would help Not included in study

Economic Costs to the Region (State)?

Summer 2009 Toledo Water Treatment $3-4,000 more/day x 90 days for activated carbon filtration ($270,000 to $360,000)

Anecdotal information about boats & cottages up for sale

No other studies available to determine economic impacts to recreation in & around the lake

No other plans, by anyone to date, to study this aspect of the damage – this may change after this last summer

Ohio Lake Erie P Task ForceSummary Conclusions

•SRP loadings are driven by runoff events & NPS•Loads are from the Maumee and Sandusky Rivers to Lake Erie• Dreissinids are a factor•Multiple contributors; agriculture is key•Need to look at how we manage our P inputs

Ohio Lake Erie P Task ForceRecommendations Management options include:

Increase use of soil tests Update screening tools that account for

agronomic need and environmental risk Align with application recommendations

Manage P inputs Timing, amount and incorporation

Next Steps

Task Force Report is Final: http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/lakeerie/ptaskforce/index.aspx

Research projects currently funded by the Ohio Lake Erie Commission, USEPA-GLNPO, Great Lakes Protection Fund, Ohio Sea Grant & other projects Millennium Network

NRCS work group evaluating the P Index NRCS: “bundled practices” for nutrient

management Work with others around the basin to pool ideas,

develop basin-specific approaches

Summer 2009 - While we were working Conditions worsened in Lake Erie Mycrocystin outbreaks were found in other Ohio

Lakes (Grand Lake St. Marys & Buckeye Lake) Grand Lake St. Marys was closed to contact

water activities for whole season

8-30-09 at the Islands9-19-08

10-18-09 Overflight, the loading continues

Ohio Academy of Science, April 2010

Annual meeting, Ohio Northern University, Ada Ohio, April 10, 2010

2nd Special Symposium – “Water Quality of Ohio’s Lakes: Inland & Erie”

Many of the research groups involved in current Lake Erie projects presented

Session was open to the public www.ohiosci.org for abstracts, still on web site Presentations on www.westernlakeerie.org Hold again in 2012 for current updates

What we learned last April

Cyanobacteria STARTS in April high in the watersheds, masked by sediment in the rivers

Species found in ditches & rivers may not be exactly the same species as in Lake Erie but conditions that drive growth are the same

Problems are watershed wide, just more obvious in the lake(s) on quiet, hot, still days

Loading has to be reduced field by field & farm by farm

Many of the most active researchers were NOT on the Task Force

2010 “Summer of Bloom”*

Not just western Lake Erie & Grand Lake St. Marys any more

17 State Parks on list 8/20/10

Does not include private lakes (Camp Willson YMCA Camp) or local parks (Three Creeks Metropark, Groveport)

* Phrase coined by Tom Henry, Toledo Blade

2010 “Summer of Bloom”*

Stone Lab Pier, 8/11/10

Photo Jeff Reutter

2010 “Summer of Bloom”*

Highest levels of SRP ever measured in rivers by Heidelberg Lab since testing began in 1975 during the spring floods

Maumee Bay NOT as hard hit as usual, but Toledo shipping channel also scoured out 1 foot instead of refilled with sediment

Were high SRP waters & sediment pushed further out into the lake by high storm flows?

2010 A Perfect Storm of Events

Very wet spring & very hot summer, Global Warming drove system

Combined sewer overflows up Liquid manures flushed off/out of fields by rains Stratified phosphorus washed off the tops of

fields & out field tiles Cyanobacteria, from the dawn of time, ready &

waiting Great Lakes region now like SE United States

with same sets of conditions, now same problems

What Can You Do To Help? - Farmers

Check fields for stratified P, if significant, consider 1 time fall moldboard plow & disk w/ a good cover crop to flip stratification

Only apply P if you really need it Liquid manure system? Consider package

WWTP or composting (OARDC, Wooster) Installing new system? Consider

dry/composted system to begin with Follow BMPs to the letter for applications Tile drains? Consider permanent tile blocks,

wetlands or bioreactors at outlets

What is a Bioreactor?

Promoted by Iowa Soybean Assoc. for nitrate removal (http://www.iasoybeans.com/environment/bioreactorbasics.html) Should also work for SRP, NRCS offering cost share funding for installations, OSU FABE looking for cooperating farmers

What Can You Do To Help? - Urban

Remove Combined Sewer Overflows, upgrade WWTPs

Install Rain Gardens Choose lawn fertilizers w/out P for

established lawns DO NOT use general garden fertilizers on

lawns Check all household cleaning products,

make sure they are “phosphate free”

Help Us Restore ALL

the Lakes

Contacts for this Presentation

Ohio Academy of Science – www.ohiosci.org Ohio Fracture Flow Working Group –

weatherington-ri.1@osu.edu Western Lake Erie Association/Waterkeeper –

www.westernlakeerie.org, Sandy Bihn, 419-691-3788, sandylakeerie@aol.com

Ohio Phosphorus Task Force - Gail.Hesse@epa.state.oh.us,

Rick.Wilson@epa.state.oh.us

Keeping Ohio’s Water Clean

Ohio Fracture Flow Working Group/OAS

http://www.epa.ohio.gov/dsw/lakeerie/ptaskforce/index.aspx