Farmers targets in Lake Erie cleanup

Ohio's outline for sharply reducing what's making algae flourish in Lake Erie clearly shows that changes in farming methods are what's needed, say critics of a plan unveiled by the state last week.

The plan has about 50 ways to do that, but some environmental groups say the state's updated plan still lacks clear direction about what should come next

.The eight-year plan aims to reduce phosphorous pollution by 40 per cent, but critics say it lacks focus. It comes after Michigan, Ohio and Ontario signed a deal two years ago agreeing to make steep cuts of phosphorus, which mainly comes from farm fertilizers and livestock manure that winds up in streams and rivers and then feeds algae in the lake.

Ohio's strategy calls for more than 50 steps to take or at least consider, including restoring wetlands along the lakeshore and looking at new limits on city wastewater plants.

The National Wildlife Federation said the plan's list of actions has "added more ingredients, but there's still no recipe."

The plan, for example, calls for continuing and expanding mostly voluntary farming practices — such as increasing soil testing and installing devices that control storm water — that are intended to slow fertilizer runoff. But what the plan doesn't get into is how much needs to be done or set goals to reach the 40 percent reduction, the Wildlife Federation’s leader said.

"Those are things we need to link together," she said. "Tell us what's going to prompt that change."

Karl Gebhardt, deputy director for water resources at the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, has said the state's plan will be evolving and if what's being done now isn't working, changes will be made.