News

Lake Erie bloom forecast smaller than years past

An extension educator says the harmful algal bloom in the Western Lake Erie Basin is projected smaller than the past three years.

Shelby Burlew with Michigan State University Extension tells Brownfield the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration projects drier conditions to continue for the next six weeks.  “To date, this spring, the Maumee has had what we consider an average river discharge. However the precipitation, or the rainfall, has decreased since late May, resulting in a drop in that discharge.”

She says farmers using a variety of best management practices have the best chance at reducing nutrient loss.  “The key is to all of them, keeping those nutrients in the soil, in the root zone, and preventing them from leaving the field either via runoff or tile line discharge.”

Burlew says the severity of harmful algal blooms depends on the loading of bio-available phosphorus from March through July.   “When we say loading, we mean, ‘What’s the rainfall doing and how is that moving sediment and nutrients through the ditches and creeks and streams, through the rivers and into Lake Erie?’”

She says the largest blooms typically occur during August and September.

AUDIO: Interview with Shelby Burlew