Tackling Nonpoint Source Nutrient Pollution

Recently, Ohio Governor John Kasich issued an executive order allowing the Ohio Department of Agriculture to set requirements for storing, handling and applying manure as well as nutrient management plans in an effort to reduce nutrient pollution and algal bloom growth in Lake Erie. The order is set to affect 7,000 farms across 2 million acres.

Although widely criticized by farmers now tasked with curbing runoff in the face of rising costs of production and nervously bracing for the effects of an international tariff war, Kasich’s decision is a sign of the political changes that watershed managers have been wanting for years.