(Oregon, OH) There's an effort underway to study the economic impact of Lake Erie and a score card on cleanup efforts to date.
Lucas County, Toledo and Oregon are each providing one-third of the funding for a study by the Lake Erie Foundation to measure just how much of an economic impact boating, fishing, birding and other recreational and tourism activities have on the region.
That analysis will be paired with a western Lake Erie report card and grading system of A to F to document progress or the lack thereof in western Lake Erie watersheds to reduce nutrient runoff. The report card will mirror the format established in Chesapeake Bay to jump start clean-up efforts there to reduce toxic algae.
Northwest Ohio officials say Chesapeake Bay has turned a corner toward improvement, so they simply want to use a best practice to do the same. But the study must first develop better economic data to best demonstrate the value of a healthy Lake Erie to the region.