Tracking the progress of individual strategies to control phosphorus
Specific activities identified by Lake Erie states, the province, and federal governments within Domestic Action Plans are tracked on ErieStat as Investments. Tracking these investments will enable the adaptive management of phosphorus control efforts and eventually, provide “big picture” views of phosphorus control Progress.
Investments made in the Lake Erie basin to control phosphorus aren’t expressed only as dollars – it’s also the programs implemented and the people and organizations who implement them. Investments include on-the-ground practices, research and monitoring, infrastructure upgrades, and outreach and education.
The Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program (GLSNRP) provides grants to local and state governments and nonprofit organizations to install sediment and nutrient control practices in the Great Lakes Basin. Projects funded under the program are selected on a competitive basis and benefit the Great Lakes states.
Runoff Risk Decision Support is a real-time forecasting tool that gives farmers guidance about when to apply fertilizers to their fields.The tools provide farmers and producers actionable recommendations about when to avoid short-term nutrient applications due to unfavorable environmental conditions. Runoff Risk tools are based on real-time National Weather Service (NWS) weather and hydrologic models and have been collaboratively developed with many state agencies, universities, and other ag-centric partners in the Great Lakes region.
Healthy soil with a higher organic content reduces erosion, ameliorates the effects of flood and drought, reduces nutrient and sediment loading to streams and rivers, and may require fewer nutrient inputs. The four key principles to building healthy soils are:
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) has assisted in the establishing a comprehensive/continuous water quality monitoring network specific to tracking progress toward meeting the Ohio Domestic Action Plan and Annex 4 goals.
Existing monitoring funds will be used to implement an open water monitoring system in western Lake Erie.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency focuses funding to priority combined sewer separation projects, wastewater treatment plant upgrades, stormwater management, and home sewage treatment systems.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, along with other local partners, conduct monitoring of nutrient discharge levels from priority combined sewer overflows (CSOs) to evaluate seasonal and annual loads.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Ohio Department of Agriculture, along with local entities, will develop Watershed Implementation Plans or Nonpoint Source Implementation Strategic Plans (NPS-IS Plans) in priority watersheds not already covered by a plan.
From the passage of Senate Bill 299 in 2018 to April 2019, the Ohio Department of Agriculture distributed $3.5 million of the $23.5 million available to the 24 soil and water conservation districts in northwest Ohio to implement nutrient management programs.
The Nutrient Stewardship Council will work toward the goal of having 80 percent of farmed acres in the Western Lake Erie Basin under certified management by 2025.
The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) set a goal in 2004 to voluntarily establish 67,000 acres of filter strips, riparian buffers, hardwood tree plantings, wildlife habitat, and field windbreaks.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) oversees the Ohio Clean Lake Initiative – Impaired Watershed Restoration Program, which aims to reduce phosphorus loading, including dissolved phosphorus loading, in the most impaired Watershed Assessment Units in the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB).
The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) continues to support edge-of-field monitoring efforts and research coming out of the Ohio State University and USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) works with local Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) to educate the agricultural community about manure and fertilizer application requirements and nutrient management plans.
To assist farmers in proper nutrient placement, the Ohio Applicator Forecast Website was launched in May 2017. The forecast is designed to help nutrient applicators identify times when the weather-risk for applying is low.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, with the Ohio Department of Agriculture and Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, is working to finalize a program to prevent nutrient loss and protect water quality through the purchase and retirement of Stewardship Credits.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) will investigate opportunities to utilize stormwater management to address hydrologic factors that influence nutrient loading into Lake Erie.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, in conjunction with local authorities, will track the installation of point source nutrient reduction best management practices (BMPs) since 2008.
The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) will continue to work with local health districts to ensure implementation of their Operation and Maintenance Tracking programs for household sewage treatment systems (HSTS), as required under the Ohio Administrative Code.
Sandusky Bay has been recognized as a priority management area, and it contains some of the most significant coastal wetland systems in the Lake Erie basin. Under the Sandusky Bay Initiative, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and Ohio Lake Erie Commission will fund and complete engineering and design work for 12 planned restoration projects.