Ohio Lake Erie Commission requests FY26–27 funds, cites progress reducing phosphorus

Joy Mullinex, executive director of the Ohio Lake Erie Commission, told the Ohio House Agriculture Committee that the commission’s FY26–27 budget request would help continue work to reduce nutrient runoff and manage harmful algal blooms on Lake Erie.

The commission, Mullinex said, coordinates across six state agencies — including the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the departments of Natural Resources, Transportation, Health and Agriculture — and with federal partners, researchers and local communities to implement H2Ohio, Ohio’s Domestic Action Plan and the 2025 Lake Erie Protection and Restoration Plan. “Ensuring Lake Erie’s water quality is healthy and safe remains one of Governor DeWine’s top priorities,” she said.

Mullinex told lawmakers that excess nutrients, from both agricultural and community sources, drive the annual harmful algal blooms and that those blooms are affected by many factors, especially rainfall. “The problem…