The International Joint Commission (IJC) suggests that current knowledge is sufficient to justify immediate effort to reduce external loading of nutrients to Lake Erie in a report released Thursday. The report provides scientific and policy advice to governments and non-governmental entities, including industry, as they implement plans to respond to deteriorating Lake Erie water quality.  Massive summer-long algal blooms, reduced oxygen levels, and fish kills have focused binational attention on the need for urgent actions to reduce external inputs of phosphorus. The IJC report provides science-based recommendations on the amount of phosphorous reduction and actions needed to maintain Lake Erie's health. In particular, the IJC report highlights dissolved reactive phosphorus as a primary concern and focuses on the Maumee River watershed as the highest priority for remedial action, recommending a 37 percent reduction for the spring period (March-June) compared to the 2007-2012 average. These recommendations aligned with recommendations made by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's Phosphorus Taskforce II report, which was released in November 2013 and was funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

For more information, contact  Elin Betanzo, Sr. Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.