Calling on Premier Doug Ford to reduce algae blooms in Lake Erie

Satellite photo from a NASA website show algae blooms on Lake Erie on Oct. 5, 2011.

windsor, Ont. -

The Canadian Freshwater Alliance is calling for an updated timeline on when the government will act on on tackling the phosphorus loads in Lake Erie. This would reduce the algae blooms that threaten both human and animal life.

In 2018, the Ontario and Canadian governments released a plan with 120 actions.

“The work plan explaining how they will implement those 120 actions was supposed to be shared by February 2019,” said Melissa Bramham, Director of the Canadian Freshwater Alliance. “It is now more than two years overdue. We don’t even know if we’ve met our interim goal of a 20% reduction by 2020. Without tracking and reporting, it’s unclear if the government’s commitments to improve Lake Erie are being adequately implemented.”

The alliance is also asking community members to send a fax to Premier Doug Ford asking for an updated timeline.

The “fax” request is a one-click action that can be taken here and plays with the fact that in many ways, the health of Lake Erie was by many measures far more stable in the 90s.

The call comes during the 4th annual Lake Erie Challenge where three teams competed in some rough waters Saturday, raising $8,600 to combat some of the most serious issues that plague Lake Erie, including toxic algal blooms.

“While algae levels were low this year, we know that was by luck and not design,” said Raj Gill, Great Lakes Program Director at the Freshwater Alliance. “A very dry spring reduced the nutrient runoff.”