The director of Michigan’s Department of Agriculture said conversation practices are making an impact in the Western Lake Erie Basin.
Jamie Clover Adams said long-term changes by growers are seeing results in the River Raisin, which flows to Lake Erie from Michigan’s most southeast county.
“Data is showing that total phosphorus loads have reduced 49 percent in the last seven or eight years.”
She said that’s a sign that growers’ efforts to integrate buffer strips, cover crops and tile outlets are paying off.
“Now we just need to go back and study ‘What was it that helped us make those reductions?’ and then, ‘How can we replicate that in other parts of the Basin?’”
In the last month EPA removed two of the river’s beneficial use impairments, another sign of improvement after spending 30 years as an area of concern in the Great Lakes.
Clover Adams said data has been collected from the River Raisin over an extended period of time by Heidelberg University, which houses the National Center for Water Quality Research.
She said a conservation partnership between Michigan, Indiana and Ohio has also brought about $17.5 million of farm bill funding into the region to help growers implement more conversation practices over the next five years.
“I think right now, everyone is really focused on getting practices on the ground and working with farmers and helping to educate them about the issues we face, and then we’ll see more measurement.”
Clover Adams said invasive species like quagga mussels and other factors are also involved.
“I think the other part of this story is non-agriculture," she said, “There are those who believe that the biological changes happening in the lake are also contributing to this issue.”
While the results in the River Raisin are one success story, Clover Adams believes more work needs to be done.
“It’s not just one thing," she said, “It is all of the contributions, and so we all need to do our part to help the lake be healthier.”
Source: www.brownfieldagnews.com