COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The huge algal bloom in Lake Erie is receding, but clean water advocates say the annual problem won't go away without changes in federal policies.

One measure raising concerns is the ethanol mandate, which requires a certain amount of corn-based ethanol to be blended into gasoline. According to David DeGennaro, agricultural policy specialist with the National Wildlife Federation, it has led to an increase in corn production, which in turn increases water pollution as farm nutrients, chemicals and soils run downstream and end up in Lake Erie.

"It's taken awhile for people to really realize what's going on and just what the stakes have been,” DeGennaro said. "It’s not just this policy alone that's contributing to all of these changes on the landscape and in water quality. But certainly this is one factor, and it's one that is government-driven through this mandate."

DeGennaro said farm runoff is the primary cause of toxic algae in Lake Erie, and noted excess fertilizer and manure are also to blame for dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico and other water bodies across the country.

It was just three years ago that a toxic algal bloom poisoned Toledo's drinking water supply.

Lake Erie Waterkeeper Executive Director Sandy Bihn said algal blooms are also harmful to the local economy. She said the sources need to be stopped to prevent further damage.

"If we can solve the problem in Lake Erie, we can prevent it from happening in the other Great Lakes,” Bihn said. "If the toxics and the runoff get in the system of those lakes, those lakes do not flush quickly, as Lake Erie does, and those problems will be far more long term and could potentially threaten the very viability of all the Great Lakes."

After initially saying the agency was considering lowering the mandate level, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt reversed his position last week, announcing it would be kept in place and that he would consider allowing an increase of ethanol blended into the gas supply.

But DeGennaro said he's hopeful Congress will act on its own.

"There's interest with policy makers on Capitol Hill to change the policy,” he said. “And so we're expecting to see some action this fall in the House Committee of jurisdiction and then also a bill introduced in the Senate."

The ethanol mandate was passed in 2005 as a way to cut energy imports, reduce pollution and lower fuel costs. Its opponents say the policy could be reformed to advance clean fuels and protect public health, without polluting water or destroying habitat.


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Both water quantity and quality are important in the dry climate of Nevada. Now, a proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency could roll back protections for the state's water resources.

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said he wants to reduce protections granted under the Clean Water Act in an effort to undo "unfair burdens" on farmers and landowners. The 1972 federal law aims to maintain and restore the nation's waters.

Natasha Majewski, climate and energy consultant for the Nevada Wildlife Federation, said the waters covered by the act have changed over the years, but it is all an interconnected system.

"Lincoln County doesn't have the same amount of resources as Clark County, and yet water is still flowing from that county into tributaries such as the Muddy River," Majewski pointed out. "That goes into the Colorado River. That will end up being drinking water."

In 2023, the Supreme Court narrowed the definition of "waters of the United States." It determined only wetlands physically connected to other federally-recognized waters qualify for protection.

Majewski noted while Nevada has its own water laws, federal regulation is needed to maintain a baseline for all states. This week, listening sessions about the proposal will be held for government agencies and Native American tribes.

The Trump administration has said it wants to reduce "red tape" for business and industry but conservationists fear loosening restrictions will cause more pollution in Nevada's wetlands and ephemeral streams. Majewski argued water should not be a partisan issue.

"It is important that all Nevadans, whatever kind of political side they are on, are able to understand these issues more," Majewski stressed. "Because water, it surpasses the administration that it's currently in."

Majewski added changing water protections could affect the quality of the Colorado River and would cause complications due to the amount of agencies managing the river.

"The Colorado River and its different tributaries that come in, it is such a patchwork of people that manage those water sources," Majewski explained.

Montana officials have denied a petition asking the state to designate the Big Hole River as "impaired" by pollution.

Two conservation groups collected data over five years and found levels of nutrients in the Big Hole River exceeded thresholds, in some parts, by twofold or threefold, which could harm aquatic habitats, contaminate drinking water and affect fishing and other tourism business. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality said the petitioners used the wrong metrics.

Guy Alsentzer, executive director of the conservation group Upper Missouri Waterkeeper, said it is an example of politics "undermining good science."

"At minimum, we feel that the state owes us a written explanation, with some detail, about exactly why it believes it can deny a petition that has clearly satisfied the scientific basis for developing a pollution cleanup plan," Alsentzer explained.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality argued the petition's data does not abide by a state law passed in 2021. The federal Environmental Protection Agency, however, officially disapproved of the law.

Alsentzer has requested the EPA weigh in, adding once high nutrient levels are proven, it is up to the Department of Environmental Quality to determine the causes.

"In the case of most Montana rivers, it's going to be a combination of human land use patterns," Alsentzer noted. "Sometimes it's subdivisions, sometimes it's septics, sometimes it's a municipality and sometimes it's farm fields or big cattle feeding lots."

Alsentzer stressed keeping waterways healthy is both "good common sense" and "good economics." According to the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, Beaverhead County's hunting and angling economy adds an estimated $74 million to area households annually and $167 million to businesses and organizations.


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A new report found 122 million Americans drink water with high levels of cancer-causing chemicals, frequently from runoff at livestock factory farms.

Researchers at the Environmental Working Group looked at water systems from 2019 to 2023. They found 6,000 water systems at some point had unsafe levels of "trihalomethane," which disinfects water contaminated with manure. The city of Baltimore and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission tested above the Environmental Protection Agency limit for the chemical a combined 255 times.

Anne Schechinger, agricultural economist and Midwest director of the Environmental Working Group, said the pollution affects everyone in the state.

"You can live miles and miles from ag, but still have ag pollutants in your drinking water," Schechinger pointed out. "You might see this report and think, 'Well I live in a city. I'm not anywhere near ag.' That doesn't mean that livestock manure is not impacting your drinking water."

Higher trihalomethane levels in drinking water can cause colon or bladder cancer, heart defects and stillbirths.

Schechinger argued President Donald Trump could reduce pollution by unfreezing funds helping farmers use healthier agricultural practices. Funds are currently frozen as Trump's Department of Government Efficiency tries to cut spending it views as wasteful.

"We can be putting more conservation practices on farm fields, like stream buffers or grass waterways, that really stop the flow of manure into water," Schechinger recommended. "That's something that was intended for this year, but the Trump administration has frozen the majority of agricultural conservation funding."

Schechinger added consumers can protect themselves by getting a water filter. Filters can help take chemical runoff out of drinking water.


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