The case study is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0
International Licence.
Impact of Land Use Activities in the
Maumee River Watershed on Harmful
Algal Blooms in Lake Erie
Ramiro Berardo, Ph.D.
Francesca Formica
Ajay Singh, Ph.D.
Jeffrey Reutter, Ph.D.
This work was supported by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) under
funding received from the National Science Foundation DBI-1052875.
Acknowledgments: These slides were prepared by the
authors of the case study, with the exception of some of
the slides in lecture 1 (created by Dr. Richard Moore
from the School of Environment and Natural Resources
at The Ohio State University), the slides in Lecture 6
(produced by Aaron Thiel, Research Manager at the
School of Freshwater Sciences-University of WisconsinMilwaukee), and the slides in lectures 1 and 3 (produced
by Dr. Jeffrey Reutter, Special Advisor to the Ohio Sea
Grant.
Lecture 1
Lake Erie
PC: Doug Smith, Star Tribune
P.C.: Lake Erie Shores & Islands
Algal Blooms in Lake Erie
Common in the 1960s
Gone in the 1970s and 1990s
Return in mid-1990s
PC: Toledo Blade
Cuyahoga River burns in 1969
USEPA, NOAA, and 1st Earth Day in 1970
Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement 1972
• 62% Phosphorus reduction (29,000 metric
tons to 11,000)
Clean Water Act in 1972
PC: John Delmotte
PC: Joe DePinto,
LimnoTech
HABs 2002-16
Severe HABs
HABs are back
2011 Algal Bloom
• Fish Kills
• Swimming & Drinking Bans
Toledo Water Crisis
September, 3, 2011. Credit: University of Michigan, & Michigan Sea
Grant
PC: Tom Archer
PC: Dr. Jeffrey Reutter
Severity of blooms
Forecast in early July
What happened
PC: http://sustainability.umich.edu
Charts courtesy of NOAA.gov
Index based on the amount of
biomass over the peak 30-days
What Really Causes Algal Blooms
Microcystin
toxins
Nutrient
runoff
Algal bloom
(cyanobacteria)
Hypoxia
Hand in Algal Bloom, Lake Erie . PC: Dr. Jeffrey Reutter
Hand in Algal Bloom, Lake Erie . PC: Dr. Jeffrey Reutter
Why do we target phosphorus (P)?
• Normally limiting nutrient in freshwater
systems
• P reduction is best strategy ecologically and
economically
• Reducing both P and nitrogen (N) will help the
most
• Can solve problem by reducing only P
• Nitrogen is more important than originally
thought
• Cannot solve it by reducing only N
• Best solution is to reduce both
Not all P is created equal
• Total P (TP) = particulate P (PP) and dissolved
reactive P (DRP)
• PP is about 25% bioavailable
• DRP is 100% bioavailable
• DRP load up ~150% since the mid ‘90s!
• Most BMPs have focused on PP (stopping
erosion)
• Removing 1 ton of DRP = removing 4 tons of PP
Where Do These Nutrients Come From?
Pollution
Point sources
• Wastewater treatment plants & combined sewer overflow
• Home sewage treatment systems
• Industrial sources
Non point sources
•
•
•
•
Agriculture
Lawn care fertilizers
Dish & laundry detergents
Storm water, subsurface drainage, surface runoff.
Diagram credit: World Resources Institute
GLWQA Annex 4 (Nutrients)
Charge to Objectives and Targets Task Team
• Provide science-based recommendations to address:
• HABs—primarily Western Basin problem
• Hypoxia—Central Basin problem
• Cladophora—primarily an Eastern Basin north shore
problem—NO TARGET YET
• Adaptive management approach
• TT identified 14 Priority tributaries
• 40% P reduction in the Spring
• Goal: Blooms like 2012 or smaller 90% of time
• 40% annual reduction for hypoxia
• Goal: Average hypolimnetic DO above 2.0 mg/l
15
Mental Modeler
 Concept map of the different components of HAB
 15-20 minutes
 Group activity
 Email screenshot to instructor
Lecture 2
CORN (or Maize)
Domesticated from teosinte over 6,300 years ago in Mexico.
PC: John Doebley
PC: Steve Snodgrass
Native American Growing Strategy: THREE
SISTERS
PC: Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center
CORN
PC: Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center
BEANS
PC: kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/history/first-thanksgiving/ PC: Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center
PC: Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center
SQUASH
PC: Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center
Native American Planting Strategy
• Native Americans planted corn
using multiple small hills or
mounds in conjunction with
beans and squash.
• Advantages to multi-cropping
include the concept of planting
a nitrogen-fixing plant (in this
case beans) in close
approximation with a nitrogenintensive plant such as corn.
PC: www.nativeamericannetroots.net
Who Were They?
• Algonquin tribes Ojibwa, Ottawa and Potawatomi
occupied the lower Great Lakes region during most of
the 16th and 17th centuries
PC: http://udawoveru.htw.pl/interestingfacts-about-paleo-indians.php
• Later, tribes of the Iroquois Nation, including the Erie,
drove out many of the native tribes during the Beaver
wars.
• 18th century: other tribes settle such as the Miami
and the Delaware.
• North-central Ohio and Sandusky County were home
to the Ottawa.
PC: Jerry Fansworth
• Other tribes that have inhabited Ohio: Illinois,
Iroquois, Chippewa, Delaware, Erie, Ottawa,
Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Kaskaskia, Miami, Huron, and
Shawnee.
Treaty of
Greenville 1795
•After the defeat at the Battle of
Fallen Timbers in 1794, the Miami,
Shawnee, Delaware and Wyandot
signed the Treaty of Greenville.
•The treaty excluded Native
Americans from living south of a
diagonal line drawn through much
of Ohio. European Americans soon
broke the agreement by occupying
lands to the north of the line.
•Indian Removal Act (1830)
PC: Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
The Great Black Swamp
• The Great Black Swamp designation
• Refers to the area lying chiefly in the
drainage basin of the Maumee River
• Settlement
• predominantly by Germans and
British,
• Began in the mid 1830's,
• The fastest growth came 1850—
1900
PC: Maumee Valley Historical Society
PC: Peter Henry Emerson
Draining
 The 1859 Ohio Ditch Law,
• created a cooperative system for
individuals to petition county
government to drain the area
 Simultaneous timbering and
surface drainage projects
 The family-owned clay tile
mills turned the swamp into
Ohio's most contiguously
farmed and productive land.
PC: Hancock Historical Museum, Findlay, OH
What is Drainage Tile?
 Sub surface drainage tile
is a system of tubing
(historically clay, now
perforated polyethylene
tubing) that is placed three
to four feet deep under
the surface of a farm field.
 The tile is perforated so it
can absorb excess
moisture from the soil
around it.
 Efficient tile should lower
the water table within 24
hours of a rainfall.
Tiling Cons
 Water flowing out of the tiling can possibly
increase flooding
 Losing wetlands means losing wildlife habitat
 Wetlands hold back heavy rains during rainy years
 Tile is a direct route that funnels manure and
chemicals that attach to soils into the nearest river.
The Maumee River Basin today
PC: Maumee River Basin Partnership of Local Governments
 Historically, over 2 million acres out of
approximately 3.2 million that are in the
watershed consisted of wetlands.
 Today, however, most of those wetlands have
been drained.
 Currently, there are:
1. nearly 2 million acres in agriculture,
2. 334,800 forested acres,
3. 410,500 urban and suburban acres, and
4. 212,400 acres in wetland and natural areas.
 The watershed also has mid-sized urban areas of
Ft. Wayne, Indiana and Toledo, Ohio.
How Do Agricultural Nutrients Enter the Water?
PC: Lancaster County Conservation District
PC: Permaculturenews.org
PC: BBC News
PC: extension.iastate.edu
Phosphorous application
 Top-dress
• broadcasting P on soil
 Banding
• till P in fall or spring before
planting
 Seed-placed
• placed at time of seeding
 Side-banding
• placed in-between rows
Image source: plantsci.missouri.edu
Figure source: Havlin et al. 2005
Mental Modeler
 Concept map of the different components of HAB
 15-20 minutes
 Group activity
 Email screenshot to instructor
Lecture 3
Social Ecological Systems and Institutional
Robustness
“Social-ecological systems are complex adaptive
systems where public policy affects and is affected by
the biophysical system in which it is embedded”
A socio-ecological system consists of 'a bio-geophysical' unit and its associated social actors and
institutions. Socio-ecological systems are complex and
adaptive and delimited by spatial or functional
boundaries surrounding particular ecosystems and
their problem context.
Source: Ostrom, Elinor. 2009. “A General Framework for
Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems." Science
(325, 24 July): 419-422.
PC: http://www.thecommonsjournal.org/index.php/ijc/article/view/URN%3ANBN%3ANL%3AUI%3A10-1-114934/331
Source: Ostrom, Elinor. 2009. “A
General Framework for Analyzing
Sustainability of Social-Ecological
Systems." Science (325, 24 July): 419422.
Conclusions and Recent Findings
42% of acres responsible for 78% of P & sediment
loss
42% of acres apply P above removal rates
1% of acres account for 40+% of sediment loss
1/3 of farmers not likely to take needed action
without more aggressive encouragement
Best Management Practices
PC: NRCS
PC: Lancaster Conservation District
PC: Columbia Conservation District
The Four R’s of Nutrient Management
Credit: The Fertilizer Institute
Group activity
• Based on your reading of the two articles for today (Vollmer-Sanders
et al. and Zhang et al)., answer the following questions:
• What individual variables make farmers more likely to adopt
farming best management practices?
• What types of social ties affect the adoption of best management
practices?
• What are the variables that are likely to improve the success of
partnerships to scale up conservation?
Group activity (continued)
• Working with your group, refine the mental model produced
during the first class period.
• Use Mental Modeler!
Lecture 4
Stakeholder Analysis: what is it?
Is a type of analysis that:
a) Defines aspects of a social and natural
phenomenon affected by a decision or action
b) Identifies individuals, groups, and organizations
who are affected by or can affect those parts of
the phenomenon
c) May establish priorities in regards to whom (what
individuals and groups) should be involved in
decision-making processes.
What is a stakeholder?
 Whoever “owns a problem” (Checkland 1981)
 Polluters and victims (Coase 1960)
The second definition has a limitation. What is
that?
In short, a stakeholders is simply anybody who has
stakes on an issue (i.e. has a vested interest in
seeing how the issue develops).
Descriptive Stakeholder Analysis
 The goal is simply to describe an issue
and who is involved in it.
 The SA is used to clarify a researcher’s
understanding of a problem to be studied
further through other means
Normative Stakeholder Analysis
 The goal is to determine who should be
involved on an issue, and have a saying in
decision-making processes.
 It is used widely in the planning
community in the early stages of planning
efforts.
Instrumental Stakeholder Analysis
The goal is to understand how certain
organizations (e.g. bureaucracies, donors,
etc.) can identify and manage the behavior
of stakeholders to accomplish certain
goals.
How to do it…
Source: Reed et al.
(2009)
Rainbow Analysis
Exercise
In groups of 3 or 4 students, spend the next 10-15 minutes creating a
Rainbow Diagram for the issue of algal blooms in Lake Erie (use the
article by Yeager-Kozacek as the source of information for the
analysis)
You can use all the material that you’ve read up to this point on HABs
to populate the rainbow diagram.
What are the strengths and limitations of this technique?
Lecture 5
Policy Instrument Responses
Questions to keep in mind as we go
over the next slides
• What limitations do you see in the majority of the
policy responses we will discuss
• Can they collectively solve the problem of algal
blooms in Lake Erie?
• If not, what is needed?
Policy Responses
1. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
(GLWQA) Nutrient Annex process
2. Agreement Ohio-Michigan-Ontario
3. Tri-state TMDL
4. Senate Bill 1 (Ohio)
5. State-level programs
Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
(GLWQA) Nutrient Annex process
• Created by the International Joint Commission (IJC)
• The IJC is a binational body (Canada and the U.S.) designed to foster
cooperation to protect shared waters
PC: International Joint Commission
Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA)
Nutrient Annex process (continued)
• First Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement: 1972.
• 1978, 1983, 1987
• Current version: 2012
• Purpose. to coordinate binational actions to manage
phosphorus concentrations and loadings, and other
nutrients if warranted, in the Waters of the Great
Lakes
Key Commitments (I)
• “By 2016, develop binational objectives for
phosphorus concentrations, loading targets, and
loading allocations for Lake Erie…
• US and Canada officially approved loading targets on
2/22/16
• 40% spring P reduction for HABs
• Goal: Blooms like 2012 or smaller 90% of time
Key Commitments (II)
• By 2018, develop binational phosphorus reduction
strategies and domestic action plans (DAPs) to meet
the objectives for phosphorus concentrations and
loading targets in Lake Erie”
• Formed 4 new, binational Work Groups to address
recommendations
• Tributary Monitoring Work Group (30 members)
• Load Estimation Work Group (14 members)
• Algae and Lake Monitoring Work Group (19 members)
• Modeling Work Group
GLWQA Annex Substance Objectives.
“To achieve Substance Objectives for phosphorus
concentrations, the Parties shall develop phosphorus loading
targets and allocations for each Great Lake”
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Interim Phosphorus Load Targets (Metric Tons Total P Per Year)
Lake Superior 3400
Lake Michigan 5600
Main Lake Huron 2800
Saginaw Bay 440
Lake Erie 11000
Lake Ontario 7000
Collaborative Agreement Michigan-OhioOntario
• In June of 2015, the states of Ohio and Michigan
signed an agreement with the Canadian Province of
Ontario to reduce phosphorous loads to Lake Erie by
40% by 2025.
• This goes in line with the GLWQA, which also suggests
reducing loads by 40%
Tri-state phosphorus TMDL
The IJC has recommended that
the governments of Michigan
and Ohio, “under the US Clean
Water Act, list the waters of the
western basin of Lake Erie as
impaired because of nutrient
pollution; this would trigger the
development of a tri-state
phosphorus total maximum daily
load (TMDL) involving those
states and Indiana, with US EPA
oversight (IJC, 2014).”
Map of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The watershed encompasses six
states and the District of Columbia. PC: US EPA
SB-1 (the “Ohio Nutrient Law”)
• Applies to western Lake Erie basin (11 watersheds)
• Farmers are prohibited from spreading manure if there’s
more than a 50% chance of ½ inch of rain within 24 hours.
• They’re not to spread fertilizer if there’s more than a 50 %
chance of a rain exceeding 1 inch, within 12 hours.
• Requires Publically Owned Wastewater Treatment Works
(POTWs) not subject to phosphorus limits to evaluate
their ability to reduce discharges, and other actions
related to reducing nutrient loads to Lake Erie
• Prohibits dumping of dredge material in the open lake by
2020
Voluntary Conservation Programs…
• Two largest:
1. Conservation
Reserve Program
(CRP)
2. Environmental
Quality Incentives
Program (EQIP)
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
• A cost-share and rental payment program under
the United States Department of Agriculture (technical
assistance provided by USDA’s Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS)).
• Program is designed to help reduce soil erosion, improve
water quality, increase wildlife habitat, etc.
• The program encourages farmers to convert cropland to
other uses that are “environmentally-friendly” (cover
crops, windbreak trees, buffer strips, etc.).
• Enrollment is voluntary
PC: FSA USDA
Environmental Quality Incentives
Program (EQIP)
• The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) financially assists farmers
who adopt or install conservation practices on land in agricultural production.
• Practices that are funded included nutrient management, conservation tillage,
field-edge filter strips, etc.
• Applicants must:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Be agricultural producer (person, legal entity, or joint operation)
Control or own eligible land
Have gross income of less than $900,000
Develop an NRCS EQIP plan of operations that addresses at least one natural resource concern.
State Conservation Programs
• OEPA’s Surface Water Improvement Fund: “provide grant funding to applicants
such as local governments, park districts, conservation organizations and others”
• ODNR’s Watershed Coordinator grant program: provides funding for permanent
positions in local government, non-profit organizations or other organizations to
prepare and implement a Watershed Action Plan (WAP) to restore or protect a
water resource
Question
• What limitations do you see in the majority of these
approaches?
• Can they collectively solve the problem of algal
blooms in Lake Erie?
• If not, what is needed?
Lecture 6
How to design a policy brief
What Is a Policy Brief?
• A document created to convince the target audience
of the urgency of a current problem and the need to
adopt an alternative policy or course of action to
address that problem.
• NOT a policy paper or a scientific paper.
What Is a Policy Brief?
Common Structural Elements
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Title
Executive summary
Context and importance of issue (A.K.A. “Problem description”)
Description of current policy or policies in place
Alternative policy options
Conclusion
References
What Is a Policy Brief?
Who Reads These Things?
• Decision makers
• General knowledgeable audience
•
•
•
•
Journalists
Diplomats
Administrators
Researchers
Effective Policy Briefs
• Focused
• Evidence-based
• Limited
• Succinct
• Understandable
• Practical and feasible
In preparation for your brief: 1. Define the Issue
• Clearly state the problem
• Define the extent of the problem
• Why is this a policy issue?
2. Identify Stakeholders
• Who are the stakeholders?
• What are the stakeholders’ positions on the issue?
• What actions have stakeholders taken (if any?)
3. Lay Out the Issue Chronology
• How did the issue emerge?
• How has the issue evolved to the present?
• How will the issue evolve under the status quo?
4. Describe Policy Status Quo
• Describe major existing policies affecting your issue
• Critique existing policies
5. Identify Policy Alternatives
• Identify all major policy alternatives
• Critique those alternatives
Brief Preparation: Set Your Tone
• Objective – provide a targeted discussion of the current policy alternatives
without arguing for one in particular
• Advocate – focus directly on providing an argument for the adoption of a
particular alternative
Writing the Brief
Title
• Make it descriptive
• Make it eye-catching
• Make reader want to continue reading
Writing the Brief
Executive Summary
• Description of the problem
• Statement on why the current approach/policy needs to
change
• Brief overview of policy alternatives
• Your recommendation(s) for action
• WRITE THIS LAST!
Writing the Brief
Context and Importance of Issue
• Give a clear statement of the problem or issue in focus
• Provide a short overview of the root causes of the problem
• Select contextual information relevant to your argument and
your audience  be strategic
• STRESS IMPORTANCE OF YOUR ISSUE!
Writing the Brief
Description of current policy or policies in place
• Give a short overview of current policy affecting your issue
• Provide an argument illustrating why and how the current
approach is failing is failing
• Remember: Current policy can be that there is no policy!
Writing the Brief
Alternative Policy Options
• Delineate possible policy alternatives (minimum 3, maximum
5) decision makers could pursue
• Clearly argue why these alternatives are better than the
status quo
Writing the Brief
Conclusion
• Restate the issue
• Briefly summarize why existing policy is inadequate
• Provide quick overview of policy alternative
• Advocate for recommended policy alternative (optional)
• ONE BRIEF PARAGRAPH!
Writing the Brief
References
• Cite within text
• List full references at the end
• Use APA
Writing the Brief
Tables, Figures, & Text Boxes
• Be judicious  choose visuals that enhance your text
• Includes captions that would allow figure to stand alone
• Use text boxes to define terms or explain concepts
introduced in text
Writing the Brief
Layout and Design
• Use publishing software (e.g. Microsoft Publisher)
• Two columns, single-spaced
• 12 point text, reasonable font
• Minimize white space
• Use color
Beginning your policy brief
• Use the following questions to think about the structure and main messages
contained in your brief
• What is the problem that the brief addresses? Why is it important to pay attention
to this problem?
• Who is the audience?
• Why is the problem important for the audience you choose?
• What sort of background does your audience have? What is their technical
knowledge about the issue, their legal knowledge about potential solutions?
• How will your brief contribute to better understanding the problem and potential
ways to solve it?
References
Eisele, F (n.d.). Preparing a Policy Brief Issue. Retrieved from https://www.courses.psu.edu/hpa/hpa301_fre1/IBInstructions_fa02.PDF
IRDC (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.idrc.ca/en/resources/tools_and_training/
documents/how-to-write-a-policy-brief.pdf
WCHPC (2012). Writing Policy Briefs: A Guide to Translating Science and Engaging Stakeholders. Retrieved from
http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/womens-and-childrens-health-policy-center/de/policy_brief/index.html
Kopenski, Marc (2010). Policy Briefs. Retrieved from http://www.richmond.ac.uk/content/library/subjects/politics/policy-briefs.aspx
Tsai (2006). Guidelines for Writing a Policy Brief [PDF Document]. Retrieved from http://jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu/~ktsai/
policybrief.html.
Young, E. and Quinn, L (n.d.). The Policy Brief. Retrieved from http://www.policy.hu/ipf/fel-pubs/samples/PolicyBrief-described.pdf