LANSING, Mich. – Michigan officials have released a final report detailing the state’s plans to meet the goal of reducing fertilizer and manure runoff into Lake Erie by 40 percent by 2025.

The end goal of this mission is to reduce harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie, which are believed to be caused by excessive amounts of nutrients entering the shallow lake. “Lake Erie provides a highly important recreational resource for fishing and boating,” said Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources Director Dan Eichinger in an announcement. “We look forward to implementing landscape actions, such as wetland restoration, to help address the factors contributing to the harmful algal blooms.”

The report, called the Adaptive Management Plan, is a follow up to the Domestic Action Plan (DAP) report issued last year. There is also a DAP team of state officials working on the problem, which promises to get input from the public each year as well as input from a science advisory group that includes people from rural and urban stakeholders. From the state’s perspective, so-called best management practices are key to addressing the problem of too much runoff into the lake.

In an announcement on Dec. 17, Dept. of the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy Director Liesl Clark acknowledged the difficulty of meeting the goal laid out in the original report. “Reducing nutrient loads from nonpoint sources to achieve the 40 percent reduction goal by 2025 has proven to be very challenging,” she said.

Among its other plans, the Michigan Dept. of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is planning to revive the federal Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) to help achieve its environmental goals. According to the just released report, MDARD has received $5 million in state funds to reinstate CREP to address algal blooms in the Western Lake Erie Basin, Saginaw Bay and Lake Macatawa watersheds. Of that amount, $4.4 million will be used to leverage as much as $45 million in federal funds from USDA for the installation and management of best practices that are proven to reduce nutrient runoff from farm fields.

Also, according to the report, there is continued concern over concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and how manure is managed at these businesses. Michigan officials have adopted new limits on manure spreading on farm fields. The new permit for CAFOs limits land application on frozen and snow-covered ground and eliminates surface application during the months of January, February and March. These months precede a time when runoff to surface waters is the greatest. It’s hoped that this approach will help ensure that nutrients in the waste can be properly placed and used by crops, the report says. The permit also makes changes to weather forecasting requirements, in the hope that this will better prevent land application before rain events.

The question is, will these and other best management practices be enough for the state to meet its 40 percent phosphorus reduction goal by 2025? Sandy Bihn of the Lake Erie Waterkeeper is skeptical. “In general, Michigan achieved half of its goal through changes at its Detroit wastewater plant,” she said. “It’s going to try to reach the rest of its goal by looking at other wastewater plants and at ag runoff.” Bihn would like a coordinated effort between Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana and have an effort overseen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She believes the underlying problem is the rise in concentrated animal feeding operations, which are large farms that house many animals and produce a lot of manure.

“The number of animals in the Maumee has gone up about 88 percent over the past 20 years,” Bihn added. “There are many more animals in the Maumee River watershed, which goes from Fort Wayne, Ind. to Toledo, Ohio. Best management practices have helped, because it’s reduced the amount of phosphorus on fields by about 40 percent, but at the same time the number of animals on those CAFOs is going up and offsetting the gains. Things are getting worse due to the increase in animal units.” Bihn also put blame on the recently opened Clemens pork processing plant in Coldwater, Mich. “This has caused a huge increase in the number of CAFOs in the area,” she said.

For more information on what Michigan is doing in the Western Lake Erie Basin or to view the Adaptive Management Plan report, visit www.michigan.gov/lakeeriedap.