In what appears to be aggressive action to reduce harmful algae blooms, Michigan — with more than 1 million registered boats, No. 2 in the nation — has issued a new Adaptive Management Plan to improve the water quality in algae-plagued western Lake Erie. But will this latest plan get it done?

Not likely, according to a number of environmental groups that are calling out the plan’s flaws.

This latest plan is part of efforts in Michigan, Ohio and Ontario to reduce the number of blooms in Lake Erie, the warmest and shallowest of the five Great Lakes and home to the most productive fishing in the region. In addition to “green slime time” each summer, toxic blooms have led to a hypoxic, or “dead,” zone at the bottom of the lake’s central basin, where dissolved oxygen is depleted and fish can’t survive.

The new Adaptive Management Plan is a companion to the state’s previously released Domestic Action Plan addressing the causes driving algae blooms in Lake Erie. Combined, they’re aimed at reducing the amount of nutrients from fertilizer, wastewater and erosion that enters the lake, according to a news release. Michigan is working to reach a 2025 goal of a 40 percent reduction in total phosphorus and soluble reactive phosphorus that fuel the algae, an excellent goal to be sure.

“We applaud the new plan to address these HABs,” says Nicki Polan, executive director of the Michigan Boating Industry Association. “While this focus is on Lake Erie now, Michigan is a huge family boating state because we’re rich in waterways, and many are experiencing some degree of algae problems. Clearly, previous random programs under the banner of voluntary best management practices have not gotten the job done. It’s time for more intensive efforts.”

“Michigan has already reached its target of a 20 percent phosphorus load reduction by 2020,” says Gary McDowell, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. He’s referring to work mostly with wastewater treatment plants. “By partnering with our sister agencies, I’m confident we will make a quantifiable improvement to water quality in the state.”

But many environmental groups doubt the new plan’s potential. Both the Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South-Central Michigan and the Michigan Environmental Council have reservations about the plan’s continued reliance on voluntary agricultural programs. Moreover, they point to its lack of a strong data system to measure real progress. They all point out the voluntary Michigan Agricultural Environmental Assurance Program is nothing more than a list of management practices, such as cover crops and grass strips, and has no accountability.

“The list of acres enrolled does not equal nutrient reduction, since there is no data to show that any one BMP [best management practice] is automatically effective on any field,” says Pam Taylor of ECCSCM. “In fact, after decades of heavy MAEAP adoption here in the WLEB [Western Lake Erie Basin], both total phosphorus and dissolved reactive phosphorus, which is what feeds harmful algae, haven’t decreased.”

In a news release, Megan Tinsley, water and agriculture policy manager for the MEC, says, “We experience massive toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie year after year, and researchers continually conclude agriculture is a primary contributor of pollution on the lake. Yet our state government continues to prioritize failed policies that don’t result in real reductions to agricultural runoff pollution. We need an effective strategy to curb the damage that unsustainable agricultural practices inflict on our fresh water, and this plan fails to deliver that.”

Further, the ECCSCM and MEC also are raising doubts about the plan’s proposed use of anaerobic digesters. These are facilities to treat wastewater at large dairy and hog farms known as concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs. These digesters collect methane that could be sold to energy producers.

However, there’s a problem: “All of the phosphorus present in the waste will still be there after digestion,” Taylor says. She notes that the U.S. Department of Agriculture “warns that land application of digester effluent, compared with fresh manure, may be a higher risk.” The fresh waste is normally spread on fields as fertilizer.

When it comes to CAFOs, as well as farmland phosphorus and nitrogen runoff, Ohio joins Michigan as a major source feeding Lake Erie with primarily volunteer agricultural participation. Indeed, Ohio’s western area is primarily farming and home to huge CAFOs. Runoff flows into the Maumee River basin, which goes into western Lake Erie.

What’s at stake for the marine industry? It’s notable that five of the top 10 states in registered boats border the Great Lakes. And as previously pointed out, the Great Lakes states account for about one-third of all boat sales. Dealing with harmful algal blooms is a priority for an industry that needs clean waterways to continue to grow and prosper.