To reduce algal blooms and dead zones, we need a strategy for farm pollution

Predicting the size of the dead zones and blooms in major lakes and bays is done in the middle of the year. The dead zone of the Gulf of Mexico could be as big as New Jersey or as small as Connecticut. Will Lake Erie bloom to a human health crisis or will it ruin the coastal economy.

Scientists have spent almost 50 years figuring out what causes dead zones and what it will take to resuscitate them and reduce the risk of toxic blooms of algae. Researchers are able to forecast these phenomena and have calculated the pollution cuts required to reduce them.

The targets are written into the government's commitments to clean up the lakes. Between 2005 and 2015, farmers and land owners nationwide received $30 billion in support, and are expected to receive $60 billion more over the course of the next ten years.

Controls on pollution from agriculture are weak and ineffectual. There is a lot of solutions to this problem. Stronger political will is needed in order for technological innovation to happen.

Problems return to Lake Erie

Since the 1970s, state and federal agencies have been aware of the harmful effects of overloading lakes. Dead zones in the water are created when the oxygen in the water is low. Efforts to curb pollution in the water bodies have been slow.

In 1972 the US, Canada, and cities around Lake Erie began working to reduce the amount of pollution in the lake. Dead zones shrank and water quality improved.

The low-oxygen waters reappeared in the mid 1990s. The source of this time's pollution was mostly from the saturated soils of the farms. Climate change causes warmer waters to hold less oxygen and cause quicker growth of algae.

Slow progress in the Chesapeake Bay

Wastewater treatment plants, factories and cars are some of the sources of nitrogen and phosphorus in the bay. The federal government and states around the bay agreed to reduce the flows by 40 percent by 2000. This effort was voluntary and failed to make much difference.

In 2010 the states and the EPA entered a legally binding commitment to reduce pollutant loads. The states can lose federal funding if they don't make enough progress.

Enhancement of wastewater treatment plants and tighter permit requirements have led to a reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. Nitrogen entering the bay has been reduced by air pollution controls. The water quality has improved.

Nitrogen loads have been reduced by less than half of the target amount, while phosphorus loads have been reduced by less than a third of the target amount. Most of the pollution comes from farms and cities. Farming in rural areas and sprawl in urban areas is making a difference.