Cleveland City Council To Create Action Plan For Lake Erie Water Quality

A new Cleveland City Council subcommittee will develop a plan to combat harmful algal blooms and other threats to Lake Erie.

Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley appointed the new committee this week.

The group will research what to do about algal blooms, which can contain toxins that pollute drinking water.   

“I think that there has been a perception that this is mostly a western basin issue,” Kelley said. “But this affects the central basin of Lake Erie right outside of Cleveland because when these algae die, they sink to the bottom and they create dead zones.”

Toledo, which faced a toxic algae bloom emergency that left nearly half a million people without drinking water in 2014, recently adopted a Lake Erie Bill of Rights. Kelley said the committee will explore that idea and talk to scientists about the lake before creating the Cleveland action plan.

The subcommittee council members are Kelley, Matt Zone, Tony Brancatelli, Kerry McCormack, Blaine Griffin and Phyllis Cleveland.

The group will meet for a planning session on April 1.