Every summer, algal blooms occur in major lakes and bays disrupting human activity and at times affecting drinking water supplies. Although a federal interagency working group is charged with helping manage the risks of harmful algal blooms, a June report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded it has failed to establish a national program to address these issues. Consequently, GAO and other researchers are proposing a new strategy that helps regulate one of the main drivers of algal blooms – agricultural runoff.
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are caused by cyanobacteria that produce microcystins, a suite of amino-acid-like toxins that are harmful to humans. Indeed, despite various agreements between federal and state authorities to reduce these occurrences, algal blooms have gotten worse in many major bodies of water across the U.S. due to increasing human activity and other factors. Climate change exacerbates the problem since warmer waters hold less oxygen and trigger faster algae growth. However, human activity is the main driver, specifically the agriculture sector. According to various studies, agricultural runoff contributes to 85 percent of Lake Erie’s Maumee River phosphorus load, 65 percent of the Chesapeake Bay’s nitrogen load, and 73 percent of the nitrogen load and 56 percent of the phosphorus load to the Gulf of Mexico.
Therefore, to reduce occurrences of HABs, researchers are proposing new policies to control agricultural pollution. Rather than paying polluters to clean up their operations, Professors Donald Boesch and Donald Scavia argue “the strategy should be to pay farmers for performance, based on environmental outcomes that can be measured or predicted at appropriate scales and specific places. Under this approach, government would set limits on the amount of nutrients that can be lost to the environment, and farmers would choose how to meet them, based on what kinds of action work best for their specific soils and climate. For example, restoring wetlands within the watershed could help to capture nutrients that unavoidably wash off of farmlands.” For more information on preventing, controlling, and treating harmful algal blooms visit the EPA resource site. Read more at the Conversation.
