By James J. Hoorman, Hoorman Soil Health Services
Tremendous farmer turnout occurred for the new Ohio H20 plan for $30 million being provided to 14 Northwest Ohio counties to improve Lake Erie water quality.? Almost everyone agrees that phosphorus (P) in surface water is a major issue.? The excess P in surface water is causing Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) in Lake Erie.? Since we are dealing with many algae (singular), the plural is algal not algae (common mistake).? One pound of P in water may produce 500 pounds of HAB.? The HAB in water need 1/10 the amount of P that our land-based plants need to thrive, so even a little P in surface water causes HAB to thrive.
In the 1970’s/1980’s, the problem was total phosphorus which includes dissolved (or soluble) reactive phosphorus (DRP) plus the particulate phosphorus (PP) or P attached to soil particles.? Recently, researchers have concentrated mainly on DRP because it flows with the water and is easily HAB absorbed.?
