ADRIAN — State leaders, environmental groups, and agricultural partners gathered in Adrian on Thursday to strengthen efforts to protect Lake Erie from harmful algal blooms, threatening millions of people’s drinking water and aquatic life.
The second annual State of the Western Lake Erie Basin Conference, hosted at Adrian College, focused on reducing phosphorus runoff that fuels algae growth. Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, are most often caused by nutrient runoff from wastewater, farm fields, and fertilized lawns, as well as the effects of invasive species.
Michigan’s updated Domestic Action Plan calls for a 40% reduction in phosphorus from 2008 levels. Thanks to tighter controls at wastewater treatment plants, total phosphorus loads in the basin have already dropped nearly 23%. New strategies include stricter permit limits, expanded monitoring, wetland restoration, and support for regenerative agriculture practices in the Western Lake Erie Basin.
More than 200 participants attended the conference, which featured speakers from state and federal agencies, conservation groups, and leading universities.
State agencies will continue partnering with local communities and farmers to meet long-term phosphorus reduction targets and protect drinking water and ecosystems across the region.