It can be difficult for residents of the Western Lake Erie Basin to see beyond the surface when it comes to the harmful algal blooms that disrupt their local watershed. After all, it is the green scum that appears on the lake every summer that poses health risks, obstructs recreational activities and creates eyesores on the area’s most treasured natural resource.
In 2014, Toledo, Ohio experienced a severe water crisis caused by toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie. The height of the crisis — when the city’s drinking water was shut down for half a million residents — only lasted three days, but the effects of the crisis continue to impact residents today. Each time we turn on the tap water, pay water bills, sit on a boat or fish in the river, the ecological imbalance that reared its head in 2014 affects our lives in subtle — and often unequal — ways.
In 2014, Toledo, Ohio experienced a severe water crisis caused by toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie. The height of the crisis — when the city’s drinking water was shut down for half a million residents — only lasted three days, but the effects of the crisis continue to impact residents today. Each time we turn on the tap water, pay water bills, sit on a boat or fish in the river, the ecological imbalance that reared its head in 2014 affects our lives in subtle — and often unequal — ways.
America's fresh water is in danger. The Great Lakes hold roughly 20% of the world’s surface freshwater, and Lake Erie alone provides drinking water to more than 11 million residents in the United States. But serious water quality, access and infrastructure problems are threatening our fresh water future.
We turn on the tap to get water, and we flush the toilet to send it away. But the “invisible infrastructure” behind these conveniences is a system that’s not only complex, but also problematic in a world where increasingly unpredictable weather patterns are straining our aging infrastructure.
Award-winning scientist Rattan Lal’s fascination with soil goes back to childhood on his family’s farm in India; he marveled at the soil’s ability to produce food and wondered why it needed to be plowed when it got compacted over time.
