Lakes are vital recreational and economic assets in Steuben County, and county officials are wise enough to recognize the need to protect them. Too bad the state chemist decided to halt a plan adopted by elected county leaders to preserve the water quality in the county’s 101 lakes.

In 2007, the Steuben County commissioners adopted an ordinance to restrict phosphorus lawn fertilizers. Too much phosphorus in lakes leads to algae blooms – green sludge that discolors the water, makes swimming unpleasant and clogs boat motors. Algae overgrowth also depletes oxygen in the water, killing fish.

“Fertilizer overload is a real problem for our lakes,” said Rae Schnapp, water policy director for the Hoosier Environmental Council.

Steuben County’s lake communities spend a lot of money fighting algae. Those communities depend heavily on the estimated $130 million of revenue lake visitors generate annually.

Steuben’s fertilizer ordinance was the first of its kind in the state and provided exemptions for farmers and property owners with new lawns that require phosphorous to take root.

While the Indiana Department of Environmental Management is responsible for protecting water quality, the Office of the Indiana State Chemist regulates the storage and use of fertilizers. And last year, legislators passed a law expanding the state chemist authority over fertilizer to include manure, further expanding the state chemist’s responsibility to regulate substances posing environmental threats.

After Steuben County adopted the ordinance, the state chemist’s office asked the county to seek a waiver to implement the fertilizer restrictions, then developed a waiver-request process. “And did a really poor job of public notice in my opinion,” Schnapp said.

On Jan. 25, the state chemist, Robert Waltz (appointed by Gov. Mitch Daniels), rejected the waiver request from Steuben County, effectively overturning the county’s ordinance.

The state chemist said he ruled against the fertilizer restrictions because he felt the county failed to show the restrictions would improve water quality and the ordinance would be too difficult to enforce.

Schnapp is understandably concerned that the Purdue University-based state chemist may have a conflict of interest. “What they (the office of state chemist) are objecting to is anything that would reduce phosphorus fertilizer sales is what it comes down to. Because the state chemist is too closely aligned with the fertilizer sales industry,” Schnapp said.

“Water quality is not in the purview of the state chemist,” she said. “I think counties should be empowered to protect water quality.”

Indeed, IDEM encourages and even helps fund the development of watershed management plans that include plans to reduce phosphorus fertilizer use and runoff.

“Counties have done a lot to try and protect water quality, but this really puts up barriers to those efforts,” Schnapp said. “The state chemist is basically telling them the only tool in their toolbox to protect water quality is education.”