H. Kenneth Hudnell: More science needed at Jordan Lake

Concerning the April 5 editorial “Buzz on the ’Bees”: Briefly, the editorial stated “the solution for the pollution problem is better management of water upstream and responsible rules.”

The suspended nutrient-input rules aim to reduce phosphorus inputs by only 5 percent at a cost estimate of $2 billion. Jordan Lake would not improve, but entrenched, large corporations would be ecstatic.

As I proposed to DEQ and the legislature, Jordan Lake needs both cost-effective, input-reduction rules and treatments to remove or deactivate nutrients and to suppress harmful algae. Input reduction alone never restored an impaired waterbody anywhere near as large as Jordan Lake.

The huge “legacy” nutrient loads cycling between sediment and the water column are its main cause of impairment. The EPA’s “A Long-Term Vision” recognizes this, and proposes using alternative, adaptive-management approaches in some impaired waterbodies.

EPA documents and websites discuss using waterbody treatments, including circulation. However, circulation alone may not always be sufficient.

An Adaptive Systems Approach uses more rigorous science and cost-benefit analyses for selecting a set of input-reduction and water-treatment tools to restore waterbodies as quickly and inexpensively as possible.

We need total solutions, not fulfillment of Einstein’s “insanity” definition.

A fuller description of the situation is at lakes.medoraco.com/jordan-lake.

The writer is vice president and director of science with Medora Corp., the manufacturer of the SolarBee mixers now stirring Jordan Lake.

This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 4:40 PM with the headline "H. Kenneth Hudnell: More science needed at Jordan Lake."