Groups: Work curbing Lake Erie algae need to target hotspots

TOLEDO, Ohio – Groups working to solve Lake Erie’s algae outbreaks agree that a key step will be targeting areas that are sending much of the algae-feeding phosphorus into the lake.

Researchers say the bulk of the phosphorus comes from less than half of the farmland in the western Lake Erie region that’s mainly in Ohio and parts of Indiana and Michigan.

These hotspots are where the huge amounts of phosphorus from farm fertilizer and livestock manure are washed into the lake’s tributaries.

This year’s algae bloom in western Lake Erie was much smaller than last year’s record-setting bloom.

That’s because there was a lot less rainfall in the spring and early summer, keeping more fertilizer on the ground and out of the water.