The type of phosphorus fuelling the algae outbreak has doubled in western Lake Erie tributaries since EQIP started in the mid-1990s, according to research scientist Laura Johnson of Ohios Heidelberg University. Scientists estimate about 85 percent of the Maumees phosphorus comes from croplands and livestock operations.Those rules dont apply to farm fertilizers that wash into streams and lakes when it rains."He recovered, but Lake Erie hasnt.Brent Peterson spends long days in a mud-spattered pickup truck, promoting runoff prevention in eastern Wisconsins Lower Fox River watershed, where dairy cows excrete millions of gallons of manure daily - much of it sprayed onto cornfields as fertilizer. A small minority of farms participate in federal programs that promote practices to reduce fertilizer runoff. Even if its not toxic, people dont want to go near it. Its widely agreed that such pollution controls can make at least some difference. Farmers in the watershed were pledged $10 million from 2009 to 2016 to help address the problem, the AP found.In arid western Idaho, where phosphorus runoff is linked to algae blooms and fish kills in the lower Snake River, government funding is helping farmer Mike Goodson install equipment to convert to "drip irrigation" rather than flooding all of his 550 acres with water diverted from rivers and creeks. A year ago, shortly after a frolic in Idahos Snake River, Briedi Gillespies 11-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever stopped breathing.
Federal audits and scientific reports raise other problems: Decisions about which farms get funding are based too little on whats best for the environment; there arent enough inspections to ensure the measures taken are done properly; farm privacy laws make it hard for regulators to verify results."The practices are completely overwhelmed," said Stephen Carpenter, a University of Wisconsin lake ecologist. Hospital tests blamed toxic algae, a rising threat to US waters. New York created a team of specialists to confront the mounting problem in the Finger Lakes, a tourist magnet cherished for sparkling waters amid lush hillsides dotted with vineyards.In Florida, artesian springs beloved by underwater divers is tainted by algae that causes a skin rash called "swimmers itch. Marys in western Ohio. They are required to get permits requiring treatment and limiting discharges, and violators can be fined or imprisoned."The Environmental Protection Agency says indirect runoff from agriculture and other sources, such as urban lawns, is now the biggest source of US water pollution.ALGAE PLAGUE SPREADSWhile theres no comprehensive tally of algae outbreaks, many experts agree theyre "quickly becoming a global epidemic," said Anna Michalak, an ecologist at the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University.A rising number of water bodies across the US have excessive levels of nutrients and blue-green algae, according to a 2016 report by the Environmental Protection Agency and US Geological Survey.Farmers are asked to take steps such as planting ‘cover crops’ to reduce off-season erosion or installing more efficient irrigation systems - often with taxpayers helping foot the bill.The US Natural Resources Conservation Service, part of the Department of Agriculture, says it has spent more than $29 billion on voluntary, incentive-based programs since 2009 to make some 500,000 operations more environmentally friendly. "If I wasnt a healthy 51-year-old and had some type of medical condition, it could have killed me. How thankful I am that we could recognize what was going on and had the facilities we did, or shed be gone.DEPENDING ON FARMERS TO VOLUNTEERThe APs findings underscore what many experts consider a fatal flaw in government policy: Instead of ordering agriculture to stem the flood of nutrients, regulators seek voluntary co-operation, an approach not afforded other big polluters.Jimmy Bramblett, deputy chief for programs, told AP the efforts had produced "tremendous" results but acknowledged only about 6 percent of the nations roughly 2 million farms are enrolled at any time. "Clearly the existing system isnt working. They were laced with algae toxins. Theres no stick. And Steele, a semipro angler, was sickened by it."Many monster blooms are triggered by an overload of agricultural fertilizers in warm, calm waters, scientists say."Its a big, pervasive threat that we as a society are not doing nearly enough to solve," said Don Scavia, a University of Michigan environmental scientist."This is a big step for a lot of these guys," he said."The AP found that the incentives program pledged $394 million between 2009 and 2016 for irrigation systems intended to reduce runoff - more than on any other water protection effort. This summers zone in the Gulf of Mexico was the biggest on record.Peterson, employed by two counties with many hundreds of farms, has lined up six "demonstration farms" to use EQIP-funded runoff prevention, especially cover crops.Without economic consequences for allowing runoff, farmers have an incentive to use all the fertilizer needed to produce the highest yield, said Mark Clark, a University of Florida wetland ecologist.NRCS reports, meanwhile, claim that conservation measures have prevented huge volumes of nutrient and sediment losses from farm fields.
Tourism and recreation have suffered.But states mostly avoid challenging the powerful agriculture industry. A 2009-10 study tallied at least 61 victims in three states, a total the authors acknowledged was likely understated. The algae-generated toxin that sickened Steele in Lake Erie was found in one-third of the 1,161 lakes and reservoirs the agencies studied.But only 795 water protection contracts were signed by Idaho farmers between 2014 and 2016, accounting for just over 1 percent of the roughly 11. But an Associated Press investigation found little to show for their efforts:Levels of algae-feeding nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are climbing in many lakes and streams. When more farmers want to sign up, there often isnt enough money.5 billion was pledged during the period.An AP analysis shows the agency paid out more than $1."Those best-management practices are a far cry from the treatment that a pulp and paper mill or a foundry or a cannery or a sewage plant has to do before they let the wastewater go," he said. "Its out of their comfort zone. Within the past decade, outbreaks have been reported in every state, a trend likely to accelerate as climate change boosts water temperatures. "Its like the Stone Age versus the Space Age. Nor have other waterways choked with algae that are sickening people, killing animals and hammering the economy.Wisconsin issues water quality permits for big livestock farms, where 2,500 cows can generate as much waste as a city of 400,000 residents. More than half the lakes were smeared with garish green blooms this summer. Minnesota requires 50-foot vegetation buffers around public waterways. "This is my baby girl.The river empties into algae-plagued Green Bay, which contains less than 2 percent of Lake Michigans water but receives one-third of the entire lakes nutrient flow. Government agencies have spent billions of dollars and produced countless studies on the problem. A US-Canadian panel seeking a 40 percent cut in Lake Erie phosphorus runoff wants to make controlling nutrients a condition for receiving federally subsidized crop insurance. Her respiratory muscles were paralyzed, her gums dark blue from lack of air.A total of $2. But its Department of Natural Resources was sued by a dairy group this summer after strengthening manure regulations. "Farmers are stewards of the land."But allowing farmers to decide whether to participate can be costly to others. "Relying on them to solve the nations algae bloom problem is like using Band-Aids on haemorrhages.8 billion between 2009 and 2016 to share costs for 45 practices designed to cut nutrient and sediment runoff or otherwise improve water quality. Anecdotal reports abound - a young boy hospitalized after swimming in a lake near Alexandria, Minnesota; a woman sickened while jet-skiing on Grand Lake St. But a loophole in the Clean Water Act of 1972 prevents the government from regulating runoff as it does pollution from sewage plants and factories that release waste directly into waterways. The Trump administrations 2018 budget
industry air pump proposes a slight cut. Goodson says forcing others to follow his example would backfire. "I have an 11-year-old daughter, and Im wondering, do I want to take her out on the lake?"The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is developing a system for compiling data on algae-related illnesses."Some states have rules, including fertilizer application standards intended to minimize runoff. A thick, green scum coated western Lake Erie. She pulled through.Funding of the incentives program has risen from just over $1 billion in 2009 to $1. "If we increase the number of toxic algae in our drinking water supply, its going to put peoples health at risk."Weve had decades of approaching this issue largely through a voluntary framework," said Jon Devine, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defence Council.Critics contend such reports are based mostly on speculation, rather than on actually testing the water flowing off fields. Algae are essential to food chains, but these tiny plants and bacteria sometimes multiply out of control. Even if many farmers are preventing runoff without government subsidies, as Bramblett contends, the numbers suggest theres a long way to go."It sounds like a lot, but the amount of money were spending is woefully inadequate," said Johnson of Heidelberg University."It attacked my immune system and shut down my bodys ability to sweat," Steele said. They spent eight hours pumping oxygen into her lungs and steroids into her veins. An international water skiing festival in Milwaukee was cancelled in August; scores of swimming areas were closed nationwide.Yet some of the lakes biggest algae blooms showed up during those seven years. Pets and livestock have died after drinking algae-laced water, including 32 cattle on an Oregon ranch in July.". Two cities reported algal toxins in their drinking water in 2016, a first in New York.Gillespie, a professor of veterinary medicine, and her veterinarian husband performed mouth-to-nose resuscitation and chest massage while racing their beloved Rose to a clinic.
The scourge is escalating from occasional nuisance to severe, widespread hazard, overwhelming government efforts to curb a leading cause: fertilizer runoff from farms."Farmers, though, say they can accomplish more by experimenting and learning from each other than following government dictates. Despite years of research and testing, its debatable how well these measures work.45 billion last year.Although there is not a nationwide evaluation, Bramblett said "edge of field" monitoring the government started funding in 2013 points to the success of the incentives program in certain regions.California last year reported toxic blooms in more than 40 lakes and waterways, the most in state history."Farmers have a bad taste for regulatory agencies," he said, gazing across the flat, wind-swept landscape. Congress has shown no inclination to change that. The next day, Gillespie spotted Roses paw prints in a purplish, slimy patch on the riverbank and took samples from nearby water. Of that, $51 million was targeted for Indiana, Michigan and Ohio farmers in the watershed flowing into western Lake Erie, where fisherman Steele was sickened.In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the agency provided data about its biggest spending initiative, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP, which contracts with farmers to use pollution-prevention measures and pays up to 75 percent of their costs. They dont want to fish in it or swim in it. "We pride ourselves on living off the land, and we try to preserve and conserve our resources. Farmers in Maryland must keep livestock from defecating in streams that feed the Chesapeake Bay, where agriculture causes about half the nutrient pollution of the nations biggest estuary.Driving home to Port Huron, Michigan, he felt light-headed, nauseous." Elsewhere, domestic and wild animals are dying after ingesting algae-tainted water. That means loss of jobs and tax revenue."It was pretty horrendous," Gillespie said. Chemicals and manure intended to nourish crops are washing into lakes, streams and oceans, providing an endless buffet for algae. "Theres nothing that says, For every excessive pound I put on, Ill have to pay a fee."There are enough rules already," said John Weiser, a third-generation dairyman with 5,000 cows in Brown County, Wisconsin, where nutrient overload causes algae and dead zones in Lake Michigans Green Bay. We want to fix the problem as much as anybody else does."The headlines were basically saying, Dont go into the water, dont touch the water," said Andy Zepp, executive director of the Finger Lakes Land Trust, who lives near Cayuga Lake in Ithaca. The previous year, an algae toxin described in military texts as being as lethal as a biological weapon forced a two-day tap water shutdown for more than 400,000 customers in Toledo. The largest on record appeared in 2015, blanketing 300 square miles - the size of New York City.Last year, Floridas governor declared a state of emergency and beaches were closed when algae bloom spread from Lake Okeechobee to nearby estuaries. One found nitrogen flows from croplands in the Mississippi River watershed to the Gulf of Mexico would be 28 percent higher without those steps being taken.Pungent, sometimes toxic blobs are fouling waterways from the Great Lakes to the Chesapeake Bay, from the Snake River in Idaho to New Yorks Finger Lakes and reservoirs in Californias Central Valley. The city of Boise completed a $20 million project last year that will remove phosphorus flowing off irrigated farmland before it reaches the Snake River.
This summer, another bloom oozed across part of the lake and up a primary tributary, the Maumee River, to the citys downtown for the first time in memory.7 million farmland acres statewide. But experts say lots more participation is needed. Oxygen-starved "dead zones" caused by algae decay have increased 30-fold since 1960, causing massive fish kills."And for all the money devoted to EQIP, only 23 percent of eligible applications for grants were funded in 2015, according to the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.The states former head of runoff management, Gordon Stevenson, is among those who doubt that the voluntary approach will be enough to make headway with the algae problem. More than 100 people fell ill after swimming in Utahs largest freshwater lake."QUESTIONABLE RESULTSDo the anti-pollution measures subsidized by the government to the tune of billions of dollars actually work?Agriculture Department studies of selected watersheds, based largely on farmer surveys and computer models, credit them with dramatic cutbacks in a runoff.Competing in a bass fishing tournament two years ago, Todd Steele cast his rod from his 21-foot motorboat - unaware that he was being poisoned.Although the federal government and most states refuse to make such anti-pollution methods mandatory, many experts say limiting runoff is the only way to rein in rampaging algae.Signs posted at boat launches in the Hells Canyon area along the Idaho-Oregon line are typical of those at many recreation areas nationwide: "DANGER: DO NOT GO IN OR NEAR WATER" if there are algae. By the next morning, he was too dizzy to stand, his overheated body covered with painful hives
