By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Because of the unprecedented harmful algal blooms of 2009 and 2010, the Grand Lake St. Marys (GLSM) watershed has been designated a watershed in distress by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). This designation is defined in the Ohio Administrative Code 1501:15-5-20.
“In state rule at this time there are certain criteria and if those criteria are met, a watershed can be designated as in distress,” said John Kessler, deputy chief of ODNR Soil and Water Resources.

The ODNR looked at studies of the watershed by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, which found impairment by nutrients, specifically phosphorous and nitrogen, and that the sources of those nutrients were mostly agricultural, Kessler said.

“That particular watershed, most of it is from the south of the lake and it drains north, has many animal feeding operations and lots of challenges with managing the manure and spreading it properly,” he said.

Aided by state and local health departments, the ODNR also looked for evidence of a public health concern, Kessler said. It found there were potential concerns with human health and to pets from the bacteria emitted from the harmful algal growths, primarily from contact with the lake as a recreational center.
“We also found that there was a threat to that recreational use based on a lot of water quality sampling data,” Kessler said. “If that data exceeded 20 parts per million of certain toxins that are released from these harmful algal blooms, it can cause problems with contact with human skin. We definitely found that to be present in two years of sampling.”

The lake is the source of drinking water for the city of Celina and there were contaminants present; however, the treatment plant at Celina filtered out any of these problems, Kessler said.

The ODNR also found unacceptable nuisance conditions in the lake, including the depletion of oxygen, which resulted in a number of fish kills during the algal blooms and shortly after. Because of these findings ODNR Acting Chief Ted Lozier proposed the distressed watershed designation. The members of the Ohio Soil and Water Conservation Commission, several of whom are farmers, voted unanimously to support it.

This designation requires additional regulations for livestock operations and manure management within the watershed. Specifically, all livestock operations and manure applicators handling greater than 350 tons or 100,000 gallons of manure a year must immediately begin following the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service standards for land application.

Those livestock operations and manure applicators must submit a nutrient management plan to the ODNR or the local soil and water conservation district no later than Dec. 15, 2012, Kessler said. Upon approval of that plan by state or local personnel, those operations and applicators must operate in conformance of the plan.

Also, new restrictions on the wintertime application of manure will apply beginning Jan. 19, 2013, Kessler said. The particulars of that restriction will be made known to local landowners in the near future.

“This is all part of our goal to really reduce the nutrient load of the lake and over time, to allow the lake to begin to recover,” he said.

This is a long-term solution and it will have an impact on farmers, Kessler added. The regulations foster good stewardship practices that most farmers practice already, he said.

“There could be costs incurred and we don’t want to take that lightly,” he said. “There are farm bill-related and other programs that can assist farmers. We will be working aggressively with our partners at USDA to help make those more available.”

To learn more visit http://ohiodnr.com or call 614-265-6610. Mercer County residents may call the Mercer Soil and Water Conservation District at 419-586-3289 and Auglaize County residents may call the Auglaize Soil and Water Conservation District at 419-738-4016 for assistance and further information.