TREADING WATER | Unfocused and underfunded, goal of cleaner water falters

America’s Midwest faces worsening trouble with undrinkable well water, recreational lakes choked with toxic algae and water treatment plants requiring budget-busting upgrades to remove pollution washing from farm fields and industries...

...The Gazette reviewed all 12 state strategies, talked with dozens of state agency leaders and found the following:

• The Gulf Hypoxia Task Force said every state should complete a strategy by 2013. But only four did. Kentucky and Tennessee still have only drafts.
• Only five states established baseline numbers for nitrate or phosphorus loads in surface water, making it impossible in the other seven to know if improvements are being accomplished.
• Five states haven’t updated their strategies after initial publication, contrary to advice from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• Only one state — Minnesota — requires farmers to implement conservation strategies to reduce runoff.
• All 12 states now require water monitoring at some facilities, usually large municipal wastewater treatment plants.
• All the states monitor water quality at public beaches to some degree, leading to more than 1,400 closures or advisories for high levels of bacteria or toxins from algae this past summer. More than 200 fish kills were reported in the states in 2017, with many caused by contaminants washing into waterways.

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Ken Notes: This is fascinating. Wisconsin should monitor this and work with farmers to see what actually works and can be economically implemented.