The Dead Zone Revisited: A University of Michigan professor and his students work to solve the problem of hypoxia in Lake Erie

Don Scavia

A few weeks ago I wrote about the "dead zone", or hypoxia region, that forms in Lake Erie's central basin as a result of the presence of excessive nutrients in the lake, causing too much algae to grow and, in turn, consume precious oxygen in the water needed to sustain indigenous fish and plant life. It's such a serious problem, one that threatens Lake Erie's fragile ecosystem.

One of the guys on the front lines working to find solutions to this problem, Don Scavia, Professor of Natural Resources and Environment and of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Don and his students combine numerical models, laboratory and field work, and assessments to improve the understanding of interactions between human activities on land and their impacts on coastal marine and freshwater ecosystems. Don has also served on the Boards of Directors for the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, the International Association for Great Lakes Research, and the Great Lakes Observing System.

In testimony before the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment Committee on Science and Technology in September of 2009, Dr. Scavia call hypoxia "an issue of global importance." He told the subcommittee that "the dead zone in Lake Erie, once thought to be under control and shrinking, has grown again to sizes not seen in decades." He went on to say:

Clearly, the nutrient pollution problem is not under control, and if more is not done to reduce this pollution to coastal and Great Lakes waters, we can expect further degradation and loss of important recreational and commercial resources.

In a recent article in the Great Lakes Echo, Dr. Scavia is attributed as saying that the dead zone in the central basin of the lake has grown up to two thirds of the entire lake in recent years. While cropland area has not substantially increased since the 1950s, agriculture intensification has brought loss of natural habitats and increased use of pesticides, fertilizer and manure which pollute the lakes. These factors, combined with heavy spring and fall precipitation, are thought to be the cause the increased hypoxia in the lake.

Dr. Scavia is currently heading up a study to establish the link between climate change, farming and dead zones, with the ultimate goal of helping farmers modify their practices to control their impacts on the lakes. One avenue to help lessen the impact, according to Scavia, would be amending the Farm Bill, a federal law that regulates agricultural practices, so that it allocates more funds and works towards land and water conservation.

Tell your representatives to fight for these changes in the Farm Bill and other measures that will help save Lake Erie.

In a balanced ecosystem (left) some nutrients fuel the growth of microscopic algae, which are the base of the aquatic food chain. In an unbalanced ecosystem (right), excess nutrients cause too many algae to grow. The excess algae die, sink to the bottom, and are decomposed by bacteria, which use up oxygen in the water. Image: google.com

Tell your legislators loud and clear: water is not a commodity

If you've been following this blog you know that I've written extensively about HB 231, that ill-conceived piece of legislation that made a mockery of the Great Lakes Compact and which Governor Kasich thankfully - and wisely - vetoed.

Tom Henry, writing for Great Lakes Echo, recently posted a brilliant and timely editorial piece about the Great Lakes Compact and how the Ohio General Assembly tried to exploit one of the most serious problems facing the Great Lakes region for the short-term benefit of some influential business lobbyists. (See: Gov. averts Great Lakes attack; I'm still embarrassed to be a Buckeye). Tom talked about how he's still embarrassed to be a Buckeye.

We should all be embarrassed to be Buckeyes.

While all the lakes are equally precious and needing of our careful and caring stewardship, Lake Erie is particularly vulnerable to the kind of short-sightedness and stupidity we saw with the introduction of HB 231. Erie is the smallest of the Great Lakes in volume (119 cubic miles) and is exposed to the greatest effects from urbanization and agriculture. The average depth of Lake Erie is only about 62 feet. The drainage basin covers parts of Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario. Because of its fertile soils, the basin is intensively farmed and is the most densely populated of the five lake basins. All of these factors create enormous pressures on the health of the lake and we haven't even talked about the greed factor.

Tom Henry writes: "If HB 231 had become law, Ohio businesses would have been allowed to drain Lake Erie to the tune of 5 million gallons a day and take up to 2 million gallons a day from groundwater that replenishes the lake." In other words, he points out, virtually use of one of our most precious resources.

As is clear from the HB 231 fiasco, we can't afford to sit by passively and trust our elected officials in Columbus (or Washington, for that matter) to operate in our best interests without constantly looking over their shoulders. I guess they are like little kids that way. And with a political system awash in money, the game of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" is only going to get worse. (Our broken election system is only going to change through massive reform, such as the institution of public funded elections, but that's a subject for another day.)

As tempting as it might be, I'm not going to try to analyze the thought processes or pathology of the mental midgets who crafted this piece of legislation. Life has taught me that the simplest explanation is usually the right one, and the simple explanation is that they do what they do because they see their oath of office not as a sacred trust but as a means to an end, that end being to further the interests of those to paid to get them elected. I know, I know; in Civics 101 we learned that an elected representative is sworn to represent the interests of all the people and to provide the greatest good. But these guys don't think like that, as they've shown during their first six months in office.

To say that the system is broken and just give up is a cop out. Things are the way they are because we allowed them to get that way. There's no one else to blame but us. But the good news is, something that is broken can always be fixed. It only takes will and determination.

When it comes to something as precious as our water supply and the future of our children, we can't afford to let our politicians screw this up. Let them know water is not a commodity, it's a precious resource to be shared by all.

And let them know that, from now on, you'll be watching.