Algal Bloom Prevention.

Algal Bloom Prevention

Scientists have found solid strategies for curbing the toxic algae blooms that have threatened some of the nation's water supplies. Since farmers are willing to adopt these strategies and the American public is willing to help pay for them, the problem is solved--well, not exactly. A collaboration of universities and government agencies has identified three key agricultural management plans for curtailing harmful algal blooms, but will funding be an issue?

Jay Martin, director of the Field to Faucet water quality program at Ohio State University, leads the a collaborative project of universities and government agencies that maps both the physical causes of toxic algae and the social landscape around the problem. He and his team took as their starting point the recent binational agreement between the U.S. and Canada to cut phosphorus discharge into Lake Erie by 40%. They surveyed farmers and the public and built watershed models to explore different ways to keep phosphorus from reaching the lake, where it feeds toxic algae.

'The big question now is, can we reach our goal of 40% reduction, and how do we do it? The hopeful news that we have found is that there are multiple ways to get there, and farmers are already adopting the very same agricultural practices that we found to be most promising. If they can continue to adopt these practices and even accelerate their adoption, we can reach the 40% reduction we need to have safe levels of algal blooms in Lake Erie, while preserving agricultural production."

The researchers have identified three key farming practices that could reduce algae levels: subsurface application of fertilizer and the use of cover crops and buffer strips. Cover crops are grown in fields that otherwise would go fallow to keep rain from washing phosphorus-laden fertilizer into the lake. Buffer strips are noncrop plants that surround fields and serve the same purpose.

In their surveys of farmers in the Lake Erie watershed, the researchers found that 39% already were applying fertilizer below the soil surface; 22% growing cover crops; and 35% utilizing buffer strips. Each of those numbers, while encouraging, falls at least 20% short of where they need to be to reach phosphorus reduction goals.

Researchers, however, were encouraged by the fact that residents--who were asked to put a monetary value on reducing toxic algae in Lake Erie--were willing to help farmers pay for these practices. People were...