WASHINGTON, D.C. — The USDA announced earlier this month an additional $5 million will be directed to help prevent and reduce runoff into the Western Lake Erie Basin.

Phosphorus runoff and other forms of pollution are being much discussed as another summer has produced another large algal bloom in western Lake Erie. Last summer a large bloom showed up near a water intake facility near Toledo, Ohio, causing a short-term yet serious crisis for residents of Toledo and nearby communities that use the same water system.

Farm runoff, especially fertilizers, are often cited as the main culprit, though there are thought to be a number of causes of the large blooms, including runoff from lawn treatments, lake water temperature, zebra mussels and the effects of longer-term climate changes on the region.

This $5 million is in addition to $7.6 million of assistance provided earlier in the year for producers in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan to compensate farmers who implement environmentally friendly practices. The announcement, dated Aug. 14, said the investment would enable the region’s farmers to reduce the amount of nutrients entering the watershed.

“USDA is committed to helping farmers do their part to protect and improve water quality in Lake Erie, and this targeted funding will allow for solutions to be expanded and delivered more quickly,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “A problem as complex as this one will demand wide attention, from agriculture to municipalities, and we will continue to work with the Western Lake Erie Basin Partnership and other partners across the region to find common ground to address water quality issues in the basin.”

Environmentally friendly practices include planting cover crops, adding gypsum to soil, implementing conservation tillage or no-till systems on crop fields, installing agricultural drainage water management systems and implementing nutrient management plans. On average, farmers and ranchers contribute half the cost of implementing conservation practices, USDA said.

The money will be administered through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Lake Erie Water Keeper Executive Director Sandy Bihn isn’t opposed to these remediation practices, but she’d like the sources of the pollution to be positively identified before money is given out. That hasn’t been done, she said.

“We want all sources to be reduced as much as possible,” Bihn added. “We’re not just targeting ag.”

NRCS Water Quality Specialist Ruth Shaffer said many efforts are going on around the Western Lake Erie Basin to address the farm runoff problem. She said federal dollars are funneled through the NRCS budget, but the programs involve more than what NRCS can do alone.

“My understanding is these new dollars supplement what RCPP (Regional Conservation Partnership Program) is already doing with the Western Lake Erie Basin,” said Elaine Brown of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. “The cool thing about this is it’s a partnership. It involves agribusinesses and others, including crop advisors.”

Brown explained if a farmer requests it, they can do a nutrient management plan and get paid to implement it. The plan might include one or more of the practices already mentioned, or others such as having a buffer between a farm field and a ditch. The $5 million will help make this an option for more farmers who want to do so.

“I think we’ve made a lot of difference,” she added. “What we’ve learned is that when a farmer volunteers to do this, it becomes standard practice. The farmer wants to keep doing it and that’s powerful.”

Between 2009 and 2014, NRCS invested about $57 million through farm bill programs in the Lake Erie Basin to help improve water quality.