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Indiana's Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) Domestic Action Plan (DAP) for the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB)

Welcome to Indiana's DAP

Indiana’s Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) Domestic Action Plan (DAP) to reduce phosphorous to the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB) is the product of a dedicated Advisory Committee comprised of representatives from different stakeholder sectors and led by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM). Founded on the principle of adaptive management, this DAP is a dynamic document acknowledging that phosphorous loading in particular, and nutrient pollution in general, is a very complex problem caused by point and nonpoint sources across all sectors, which requires a multi-dimensional solution.

The Great Lakes Nutrients Annex (Annex 4) is charged with coordinating actions to manage phosphorus loadings and concentrations within the Great Lakes. Indiana has been an active member of the Nutrients Annex since its establishment in 2013. Indiana’s commitment under the Nutrients Annex includes the development of a Domestic Action Plan (DAP) to assist in meeting nearshore and open water phosphorus objectives and loading targets for Lake Erie.

The focus of Indiana’s DAP is the 40% reduction goal for the Maumee River, which drives hazardous algal blooms (HABs) in the WLEB and contributes to central basin hypoxia.  The Maumee River is formed near Fort Wayne at the confluence of the St. Joseph River and the St. Mary’s River both of which enter Indiana from Ohio.  The Maumee River flows approximately 29 miles eastward into and through Ohio for another 108 miles to its mouth at Maumee Bay in Lake Erie near Toledo.

Indiana’s goal is to meet the spring-time flow weighted mean concentration (FWMC) targets of 0.23 mg/L and 0.05 mg/L for total phosphorus (TP) and dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) respectively in the Maumee River as it flows across the border into Ohio.  Indiana affirms that the reduction planned for the Maumee River will address Indiana’s obligation for the 40% phosphorus load reductions entering the WLEB to reduce both HABs therein and hypoxia in the central basin.

Indiana’s GLWQA DAP for the WLEB Advisory Committee met monthly in 2016 and 2017 to coordinate the development of the DAP.  Since that time, the Advisory Committee meets up to four times a year to discuss progress in meeting its goals. Following are Advisory Committee meeting agendas and summaries.

Kristen Arnold, IDEM
317-308-3142
karnold@idem.IN.gov

Indiana’s GLWQA DAP for the WLEB presentation
Support/Efforts within Indiana’s portion of the WLEB
Total Phosphorus Flow Weighted Concentrations at Fixed Station Sites within Northeastern Indiana
US Action Plan for Lake Erie
Lake Erie Action Plan Fact Sheet
Michigan Domestic Action Plan for Lake Erie
Michigan’s Implementation Plan
Ohio's Domestic Action Plan
State of Ohio’s Western Lake Erie Basin Collaborative Implementation Plan
Pennsylvania's Lake Erie Phosphorus Reduction Domestic Action Plan
Expectations for Domestic Action Plans under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
Summary of Findings and Strategies to Move Toward a 40% Phosphorus Reduction
Nutrients Annex 2016 Progress Report of the Parties