In a March draft report, the Ohio EPA declared Lake Erie’s Western Basin (from the Michigan/Ohio state line to the Marblehead Lighthouse) impaired for recreation “due to harmful algae and drinking water due to occurrences of microcystin.”
This first-time assessment of Lake Erie was completed because the Kasich Administration requested input from representatives from The Ohio State University Sea Grant College Program, Bowling Green State University, University of Toledo, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. EPA to identify a science- based process for assessing impairment in Ohio’s Western Basin open waters for harmful algae. To date, no such process has existed, so Ohio has not been able to determine if the open waters of Lake Erie should be listed.
