State scientists found high levels of E. coli, phosphorus and other pollutants at nearly every test point in the tributaries that feed the Scioto River northwest of Columbus. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency found that E. coli levels at sites used by boaters and swimmers were higher than federal safety thresholds.

State scientists found high levels of E. coli, phosphorus and other pollutants at nearly every test point in the tributaries that feed the Scioto River northwest of Columbus.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency found that E. coli levels at sites used by boaters and swimmers were higher than federal safety thresholds.

Dina Pierce, a spokeswoman for the Ohio EPA, said the results are not surprising and that the overall health of the Upper Scioto Watershed has improved since the mid-1990s.

But the report shows that this mostly rural watershed is still troubled and worse off than others in the state.

�There�s some work that we need to do here, and we need local people to be on board, because there�s only so much we can do as a regulatory agency,� Pierce said.

E. coli in the Upper Scioto Watershed, which stretches across Hardin, Marion and Union counties, likely came from manure spread on area farms and from wastewater-treatment plants, according to the report.

About 80 percent of the land around the watershed is farmland, and treatment plants line the rivers and streams there.

The Upper Scioto is a small part of the larger Scioto River Watershed, which includes creeks, streams and rivers in more than 6,500 square miles ending at the Ohio River near Portsmouth.

EPA scientists tested sites throughout the Upper Scioto Watershed in 2009 and 2011 for this report and found that less than half met federal criteria for keeping fish and other water animals safe.

Ohio EPA made recommendations in the report to improve water quality in the watershed, including increasing inspections of septic systems, closer monitoring of municipal sewer systems and partnerships with large-scale farmers to reduce the amount of fertilizer and manure they spread on their land.

The EPA wouldn�t allow any of the researchers who worked on the report to be interviewed.

Excessive phosphorus can lead to toxic algae blooms in lakes, which threatened fish, humans and pets.

Algae blooms last year tainted water at Hoover Reservoir, making the water that flowed from some Columbus taps smell and taste bad.

Cyanobacteria, also called blue-green algae, are common in most Ohio lakes. They grow thick by feeding on phosphorus from manure, fertilizer and sewage that rain washes from farm fields into nearby streams.

As many as 19 public lakes, including Erie and central Ohio�s Buckeye Lake, have been tainted in recent years by toxic algae. Currently, there are warnings at Buckeye Lake, Grand Lake St. Marys in western Ohio and East Fork Lake in southwestern Ohio.

State lawmakers have been reluctant to regulate farms. Steve Hirsch, president of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, said many farms have voluntarily changed the way they apply manure to their fields.

Yesterday, the federation and a slew of other organizations, including the Nature Conservancy, Anheuser-Busch and groups representing farmers, announced a partnership to address overall water quality in Ohio.

The groups plan to conduct public-opinion polls and make recommendations to the state.

Hirsch said the federation is working with Ohio State University researchers to see how farm runoff affects the state�s waterways.

He pointed to a recent Ohio law that will require farmers to get a permit before they apply fertilizer to their crops as a sign that the state could increase regulation of farms if necessary.

�As we work through this, there may be other possible solutions, whether they be voluntary or mandatory,� Hirsch said. �It�s been a long-term thing to get the lakes to where they are now, and it�s going to be a long-term thing to get them back to where we want them to be.�

The public can comment on the Ohio EPA report until Aug. 4. To read it, go to http://epa.ohio.gov/portals/35/tmdl/UpperScioto_MainReport_PNdraft.pdf

larenschield@dispatch.com

@larenschield