TOLEDO — As former director of the Ohio Sea Grant, Dr. Jeff Reutter has seen Lake Erie transform several times over the past 50 years.
He remembers the first time Lake Erie dealt with harmful algae blooms, which started appearing in the lake in the 1960s. Sewage treatment plants were dumping large amounts of phosphorus into the lake, which is the nutrient that fuels the algae blooms.
“Scientists got together at that time. Our target was to reduce the amount of phosphorous coming into Lake Erie from 29,000 metric tons down to 11,000 metric tons,” Reutter explained, “I remember as a young guy thinking, ‘This is too great a reduction, we’re never going to do it.’”
Scientists used the Clean Water Act to regulate sewage treatment plants, forcing them to reduce the amount of phosphorus they put into the lake. By 1981, they had reached their goal…