TOLEDO, Ohio — Officials in Michigan and Ohio seemed prepared last week when it was announced that toxins caused by algal blooms had been detected in Lake Erie waters near Toledo’s water intake crib.

As reported in the Toledo Blade July 27, Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson called a news conference that night saying city officials changed the city’s water quality status from “clear” to “watch” on a water quality dashboard the city has on its official website.

She said Toledo’s drinking water is safe and that the toxin, called microcystin, has not yet been detected inside the Collins Park Water Treatment Plant, the city’s water treatment facility. According to the U.S. EPA, most microcystins are liver toxins and can also be an irritant to the skin, throat and eyes.

According to the city’s Department of Water Quality, it recently acquired a warning system it did not have last August, when an algal bloom producing microcystins situated itself around the water intake mechanism for Toledo and caused a multi-day tap water crisis. Buoys and sondes – electronic detectors designed to be used in the water – alert officials prior to microcystin reaching the water treatment plant.

“Raw water conditions are being monitored carefully with data collection sondes all located prior to the treatment plant: nearby the intake crib in Lake Erie, in the intake crib and at the Low Service Pump Station,” the department states on its website. It goes on to say water quality is being tested every 10 minutes with the electronic detectors.

In reaction to the announcement, the Michigan League of Conservation Voters and Michigan Agri-business Assoc. issued the following statement the same day: “Algal blooms such as the one currently forecast in the western Lake Erie basin (WLEB) are a serious problem with a host of causes, including extreme weather, climate change, combined sewage overflow, malfunctioning septic systems and agriculture.

“Algal blooms threaten drinking water, recreation and many other uses of our precious water resources. That’s why we need collaboration to identify and implement real solutions. It will take all of us working together to address this critical issue.

“Agriculture and conservation leaders must work together to fully understand the causes of algal blooms and identify real solutions, including how to best address modern runoff concerns stemming from dissolved reactive phosphorus. This will require aggressive research to identify the causes of algal blooms and identify new and better tools to address this problem.

“We are approaching the one-year anniversary of harmful algal blooms that wreaked havoc on the water supply in Toledo and southeast Michigan. The current forecast reminds us that we need all hands on deck and everyone working together to protect water quality throughout our region,” it added.

On its drinking water treatability database webpage, the EPA seems to name agriculture more pointedly for the problem of blue-green algae. Cyanobacterial blooms “can persist with adequate levels of phosphorus and nitrogen,” it states.

Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) spokeswoman Jen Holton said while it’s often claimed large livestock farms are the source of what ails the WLEB, the truth is “quite the opposite.

“For example, there are only 12 CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) in the Michigan portion of the WLEB and agricultural land comprises only 15 percent of the total area of the WLEB,” she said.

Holton said Michigan has been a leader in mitigating the problems that lead to harmful algal blooms in the WLEB. She pointed to the Michigan Agricultural Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) as a model other states should follow to help deal with environmental problems such as agricultural runoff.

MAEAP is a voluntary effort in which farmers can become “verified” in the program if they follow certain best practices in their area of farming, as certified by MDARD staffers. Holton said among other things, MAEAP has kept 347,620 tons of farm soil each year from reaching rivers, lakes and streams by encouraging erosion-reducing practices on farms.

Congressional representatives from Michigan are also trying to get a federal version of MAEAP enacted, along with federal dollars that would help implement such a program.

Aside from MAEAP, Michigan has taken other proactive steps to reduce the problems that cause harmful algal blooms, Holton said; for example, in 1971, Michigan enacted a phosphorus limit of 8.7 percent by weight on all cleaning agents. Beginning Jan. 1, 2012, Michigan banned the use of phosphorus in turf grass fertilizers for most domestic and commercial uses.

But the ban does not apply to agricultural use of fertilizer and has several exceptions for use on turf grass.

“We do not have a clear idea of the sources and amounts of phosphorus, nitrogen and sediments,” said Sandy Bihn, executive director of Lake Erie Waterkeeper, an environmental group based out of Toledo. “We think the biggest source is manure, because farmers are allowed to apply more than the agronomic rate for fertilizer.

“They’re applying four times as much manure as the agronomic rate because they want to get rid of it the cheapest way possible.”