Brown praises USDA fight against algae blooms, promotes bill
August 17, 2015 |04:43 PM
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, today praised the Agriculture Department’s decision to provide an additional $5 million to fight toxic algae blooms in the Great Lakes, but also noted his own bill to address the problem.
Vilsack announced Friday that USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service will spend an additional $5 million through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to help farmers fight the blooms, which threaten drinking water systems.
“We know that agricultural and urban runoff is one of the biggest contributors to dangerous algal blooms,” Brown said.
“After months of significant rain this spring and summer, cover crops could not be planted on tens of thousands of acres,” he said. “With the additional funding, more farmers can use EQIP funding to plant cover crops, helping reduce harmful runoff.”
“Around this time last year, 500,000 Ohioans in the Toledo area were forced to go without safe drinking water,” Brown said. “They were warned they couldn’t drink the tap water in their own homes.”
“Cities and towns across Ohio need to have the best, most up-to-date information on how to keep their drinking water safe,” he added. “That’s why I’m proud that this month the president signed our bipartisan Drinking Water Protection Act. Our bill will finally require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a strategic plan within 90 days for evaluating and treating water impacted by these blooms.”
Vilsack said the $5 million will help Ohio, Michigan and Indiana improve water quality in the western Lake Erie basin.
“These investments will enable the region’s farmers to reduce the amount of nutrients entering the watershed, one of the sources of disruptive algae blooms,” Vilsack said.
He noted that USDA has already spent a considerable amount of money addressing the problem.
“Already this year, NRCS has devoted approximately $7.6 million in financial assistance for producers in the Western Lake Erie Basin across a range of conservation practices like cover crops and nutrient management.”
The funding will allow NRCS to help farmers apply selected conservation practices shown to help water quality, such as 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.
Between 2009 and 2014, NRCS has invested approximately $57 million through farm bill programs in the Lake Erie Basin, USDA said.
Studies show that between 2009 and 2014, the new steps farmers are taking with NRCS assistance have reduced annual nutrient and sediment losses by approximately 7 million pounds of nitrogen, 1.2 million pounds of phosphorus, and 488,000 tons of sediment in the Lake Erie Basin, USDA added.
The cause of algae blooms is complex; water temperature, lack of agitation, rainfall and runoff from farms and lawns, zebra mussels, and the impacts of climate change can all contribute to the problem, the department said.
Vilsack announced Friday that USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service will spend an additional $5 million through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to help farmers fight the blooms, which threaten drinking water systems.
“We know that agricultural and urban runoff is one of the biggest contributors to dangerous algal blooms,” Brown said.
“After months of significant rain this spring and summer, cover crops could not be planted on tens of thousands of acres,” he said. “With the additional funding, more farmers can use EQIP funding to plant cover crops, helping reduce harmful runoff.”
“Around this time last year, 500,000 Ohioans in the Toledo area were forced to go without safe drinking water,” Brown said. “They were warned they couldn’t drink the tap water in their own homes.”
“Cities and towns across Ohio need to have the best, most up-to-date information on how to keep their drinking water safe,” he added. “That’s why I’m proud that this month the president signed our bipartisan Drinking Water Protection Act. Our bill will finally require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a strategic plan within 90 days for evaluating and treating water impacted by these blooms.”
Vilsack said the $5 million will help Ohio, Michigan and Indiana improve water quality in the western Lake Erie basin.
“These investments will enable the region’s farmers to reduce the amount of nutrients entering the watershed, one of the sources of disruptive algae blooms,” Vilsack said.
He noted that USDA has already spent a considerable amount of money addressing the problem.
“Already this year, NRCS has devoted approximately $7.6 million in financial assistance for producers in the Western Lake Erie Basin across a range of conservation practices like cover crops and nutrient management.”
The funding will allow NRCS to help farmers apply selected conservation practices shown to help water quality, such as 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.
Between 2009 and 2014, NRCS has invested approximately $57 million through farm bill programs in the Lake Erie Basin, USDA said.
Studies show that between 2009 and 2014, the new steps farmers are taking with NRCS assistance have reduced annual nutrient and sediment losses by approximately 7 million pounds of nitrogen, 1.2 million pounds of phosphorus, and 488,000 tons of sediment in the Lake Erie Basin, USDA added.
The cause of algae blooms is complex; water temperature, lack of agitation, rainfall and runoff from farms and lawns, zebra mussels, and the impacts of climate change can all contribute to the problem, the department said.
