SANDUSKY, Ohio (AP) — Charter boat captains are helping the state monitor water quality and watch for harmful algae blooms in Lake Erie’s western basin between Toledo and Sandusky.
Participating members of the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association will coordinate with one another to make sure at least four offshore locations are checked as part of their regular charter outings.
The boat crews will turn the samples over to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to track water quality, the agency announced Monday.
The boat sampling will provide the state with “a more complete picture of water quality conditions in Lake Erie’s western basin,” the Ohio EPA said.
The Ohio EPA already checks water quality monthly from 13 nearshore locations across the Lake Erie coastline from March through October.
The agency said the western basin is the most ecologically sensitive region of the Great Lakes. Harmful algae blooms re-emerged in the lake in the 1990s and worsened in the past decade.
Blue-green algae can produce toxins harmful to humans and animals and hurt businesses that rely on the lake, according to the agency.
Excessive amounts of phosphorous from fertilizer runoff, sewage plants and other urban sources have caused the explosive algae growth in recent years. State agencies have asked farmers to make voluntary changes in applying fertilizer to reduce phosphorous going into the lake.
A seasonal algae prediction has concluded that this year’s algae would be about one-tenth of the amount of last year’s, one of the worst on record.
If the forecast is correct, it would be the first mild summer for the blooms since 2007. Scientists say that because there has been less rain, reducing the phosphorus runoff getting into the lake to feed algae growth.
