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Kasich Communications
Ohio, Michigan,
Ontario partner for Lake Erie water quality
COLUMBUS – Building upon historic changes undertaken earlier this year
to improve Lake Erie water quality, Ohio has reached an agreement with
Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario to achieve a 40 percent
reduction in the amount of phosphorus entering Lake Erie’s western
basin by 2025. When too much phosphorus enters the water through
sources such as fertilizers, animal manure or sewage treatment plants,
water becomes polluted leading to algal blooms and public health
warnings.
Lt. Governor Mary Taylor is representing Ohio and will sign the
agreement Saturday at a meeting of the Council of Great Lakes Governors
in Quebec City. As part of the agreement, each state will develop
a plan on how they will achieve their phosphorus reduction goal, with
the interim target of a 20 percent reduction by 2020.
“Lake Erie is one of our state’s crown jewels for its recreation,
wildlife and economic benefits and as a key source of water for
millions of Ohioans,” Taylor said. “While we have made tremendous
progress in protecting Lake Erie over the past four years, there is
more work to do and by working in unison with our Great Lakes neighbors
we can make even more progress to improve the water quality in our
Great Lakes.”
Earlier this spring, Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed legislation to
aggressively tackle water quality issues to protect the Lake Erie
watershed, by:
• Eliminating Open Lake Disposal of Dredge Materials by 2020: Reducing
the sediment dumped in Lake Erie will help reduce chemical and nutrient
loading, which likely contributes to harmful algal blooms and will
improve water quality and protect fish and wildlife habitats. Ohio will
require that all dredge material be diverted from open-lake disposal by
2020, unless it’s for a beneficial use such as beach nourishment.
• Banning Manure or Fertilizer Application on Frozen/Snow Covered
Ground in Western Basin: Ohio will prohibit manure or fertilizer from
being applied to frozen, snow-covered or rain soaked ground in the
Western Lake Erie Basin unless proper farming practices such as
injection, tillage or cover crops are also used.
• Limiting Phosphorus Discharges: Ohio EPA will evaluate and modify new
and existing wastewater discharge permits for major public wastewater
treatment plants to expand monitoring and continue to limit phosphorus
discharges in state waters.
• Adding Requirements for Spreading Manure: The Ohio Department of
Agriculture will now require anyone applying livestock manure from a
Concentrated Animal Feeding Facility to obtain a Certified Livestock
Manager certificate or an agricultural fertilizer applicator
certificate.
These reforms build upon significant progress made over the past four
years in protecting the lake, including:
•
Ohio has invested more than $1 billion since July 2011 in the Lake
Erie watershed to improve drinking water and wastewater facilities,
monitor water quality, plant cover crops, recycle dredge material,
install controlled drainage systems on fields and fix faulty septic
systems.
• Restricting water amounts that can be diverted out of the Lake Erie
watershed;
• Beginning to phase out open-lake dumping of Maumee River dredge
material and continuing to prohibit open-lake dumping of Cuyahoga River
dredge material;
• Banning oil and gas exploration in Lake Erie; and
• Helping combat invasive species via mutual aid agreements with nine
other Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces.
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