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The following article is from an archived newsletter. See our Shared Waters newsletter.

Find a Solution to Algal Blooms, Win $10 Million

IJC staff
IJC
A heap of money

What’s the solution to harmful algal blooms?

The answer is complex, but reducing phosphorus will help. Along those lines, the IJC released 16 recommendations in February to the Canadian and U.S. governments as part of a Lake Ecosystem Priority study (LEEP for short).

Since then, an additional study published in the journal Water Resources Research has suggested that even further cuts in phosphorus than IJC recommended may be needed. Regardless, there’s still a need to reduce phosphorus inputs from fertilizers and runoff, whether it’s by 37 percent, as suggested by LEEP for Ohio’s Maumee River watershed, or more.

What’s the value of cutting phosphorus? The LEEP study estimated the economic value of damage to beach recreation caused by harmful algal blooms in 2011 at $1.3 million for Maumee Bay State Park. For recreational fishing, the impact from a severe 2011 harmful algal bloom on Lake Erie in Ohio was pegged $2.4 million.  And these are just some of the costs.

Because harmful algal blooms can be so damaging economically, the Everglades Foundation in Florida has issued a Grand Challenge: “a $10 million prize … to anyone who can successfully develop and execute a process to remove excessive phosphorus from our waterways, and develop a method to recycle that phosphorus into much needed phosphate for use in growing the world’s food supply.”

A heap of money. Credit: Tracy O

A heap of money. Credit: Tracy O

This is a novel way to spur progress. The same amount of money was offered for the Ansari XPRIZE for private space travel, and Mojave Aerospace Ventures won in 2004 for launching a craft more than 60 miles above the Earth.

“Phosphorus pollution is destroying waterways around the globe, diminishing sea life and wildlife, threatening human health, and, as recently happened in Toledo, Ohio, caused the shutting down of the city’s water supply,” says Dr. Maurice Ferré, chairman of the Everglades Foundation’s Grand Challenge Committee. “We believe that The Grand Challenge will lead us to a solution that will restore the health of our waterways, improve the ecosystem, and protect our water supply.”

The Grand Challenge won’t be immediate. A formal launch will take place in February 2015, and the big prize is expected to be awarded by 2022.

In the meantime, it’s a good sign that groups like the Great Lakes Commission are supporting the LEEP recommendations, and states like Ohio are pushing reduction proposals.

IJC staff
IJC

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