{"id":26556,"date":"2016-08-30T16:59:31","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T20:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/?p=26556"},"modified":"2021-11-10T16:38:39","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T20:38:39","slug":"solving-western-lake-erie-nutrient-problems-daunting-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/solving-western-lake-erie-nutrient-problems-daunting-possible.htm","title":{"rendered":"Solving Western Lake Erie Nutrient Problems Is Daunting But Possible"},"content":{"rendered":"

Though achieving the 40 percent reduction target for phosphorus going into western Lake Erie is a daunting task, the results of new modeling research has found that getting there is possible. But it\u2019s not going to be easy.<\/p>\n

The modeling work, led in part by scientists at Ohio State University, dissected different treatment options for the Western Lake Erie Watershed. Its findings help to show the reduction target can be achieved without drastically altering the region\u2019s farmland.<\/p>\n

Noel Aloysius, a postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Ohio State, recently discussed the project during a meeting of Great Lakes reporters hosted by Ohio State University\u2019s Stone Laboratory on Lake Erie\u2019s Gibraltar Island. In addition to those from Ohio State, the modeling project involved researchers from Heidelberg University, LimnoTech, University of Michigan, University of Toledo, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Geological Survey.<\/p>\n

He presented some encouraging news for tackling the target, which is aimed to be reached by 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we did was bring together all these groups with the specific goal of finding different ways to achieve this goal of reducing the load by 40 percent,\u201d said Aloysius. \u201cHow can we achieve this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"western

Noel Aloysius, postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Ohio State University, presents results of modeling research addressing the western Lake Erie nutrient reduction target. (Credit: Nate Christopher \/ Fondriest Environmental)<\/p><\/div>\n

To begin, the modeling groups decided to focus on a period between 2005 and 2014. Using a common historical period helped them to validate their models, and the period was also ideal because it included a good mix of watershed changes such as drought years and the rainy season in 2011 that spurred a record bloom.<\/p>\n

They considered the sources for nutrients, like septic systems, wastewater treatment plants and runoff as well as how fertilizers are applied. The group found that around 85 percent of the nutrients that make it into western Lake Erie from the Maumee River basin come from fertilizers, regardless if they\u2019re organic or of chemical origin.<\/p>\n

Their efforts showed that removing all the point sources of pollution from the watershed, those from treatment plants for example, would only temper the nutrients going in by about 5 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you remove all the point-source discharges, how much reduction? And then we started looking at the extreme cases,\u201d said Aloysius. \u201cFor example, if we \u2026 reduce or convert agricultural land by 10 percent, 25 percent, 50 percent to grassland — what will happen?\u201d<\/p>\n

Aloysius says some of those are extreme scenarios because they\u2019re highly unlikely to happen. But modeling them is valuable considering the mix of treatment schemes possible. The 50 percent grassland scenario would achieve the reduction, researchers found.<\/p>\n

Modelers considered how installing cover crops and filter strips would help. Or targeting the application of fertilizers as well as converting large areas to grassland. In all, there were around 15 different methods or treatments considered.<\/p>\n

\"western

Noel Aloysius (right) with Chris Winslow, interim director of Stone Lab, during the research cruise on Lake Erie. (Credit: Nate Christopher \/ Fondriest Environmental)<\/p><\/div>\n

They then sought to learn whether a random or targeted scheme of treatments would have better results. Being more selective won out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we see is, out of these scenarios we looked at, the targeted, across the 50 percent of the land, results as the most plausible scenario,\u201d said Aloysius. \u201c… How are we going to target it, who is going to pay for it? Those kinds of things we have not looked at.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what needs to happen to reach the target? Aloysius says that it will take a lot of farmers stepping up to apply treatments on their lands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Maumee watershed, we want to have at least 78 percent of the farmers adopt buffer strips and nearly 50 percent of the farmers include placement of fertilizer application (in their planting methods),\u201d said Aloysius. \u201cAnd nearly 60 percent of the farmers, we want them to have a cover crop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many farmers are already doing those things, he says, and trends year over year have shown that more are adopting better practices. We just need to get the pace of their adoption to increase.<\/p>\n

Programs like the Nature Conservancy\u2019s 4R Nutrient Stewardship Program have helped. Another, the Tri-State Western Lake Erie Basin Phosphorus Reduction Initiative, has too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see things happening, but what we suggest is that we need to accelerate the adoption of these practices in order to achieve the target by 2025,\u201d said Aloysius. \u201cWhat I want to emphasize is that there are multiple pathways. There are extreme cases, like we convert half the land to grassland \u2026 but there are alternate pathways to get there. \u2026 It is possible without compromising the farm productivity. We can achieve this target.\u201d<\/p>\n

Funding for the work was provided in part by the National Science Foundation.<\/p>\n

Top image:\u00a0Lake Erie algal bloom, Oct. 13, 2011. (Credit: NASA Earth Observatory)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A modeling effort led in part by Ohio State scientists shows that the western Lake Erie phosphorus reduction target can be met with more farmers onboard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":26552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,32],"tags":[60,125,181,346,109,342,343,176],"class_list":["post-26556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-articles","category-lakes-reservoirs","tag-featured","tag-great-lakes","tag-lake-erie","tag-lakes-reservoirs","tag-news-ticker","tag-ohio-state-university","tag-stone-lab","tag-top-story"],"remote_post_permalink":false,"remote_post_featured_image":false,"yoast_head":"\nSolving Western Lake Erie Nutrient Problems Is Daunting But Possible<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A modeling effort led in part by Ohio State scientists shows that the western Lake Erie 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