We Can Find the Fertilizer Fix

From nasty-tasting water in Broad Ripple to vast fish-scarce "dead zones" in the Gulf of Mexico, America's affinity for fertilizer has brought about unintended consequences on a large and depressing scale.

The challenge facing federal and state authorities, and each farmer and lawn owner, is to retain sufficient benefits from the potent prime ingredient, phosphorus, while eliminating the byproduct of intolerable damage to waterways.

The task is a formidable one, scientifically, economically and politically.

Precisely measuring the extent of the problem, as well as the extent of each source's contribution to it, remains to be done. Whatever those results turn out to be, it is highly unlikely that states or the federal government will impose a ban on phosphorus from the prime commercial source — farming — although scientific advisers to the feds have called for a drastic reduction. Any substantial cut would make for a painful transition for farmers and the economy, albeit a necessary one for the long-term health of our water and land.

More probable are prohibitions or tight restrictions on use of phosphorus-based fertilizers on lawns.

Alternatives are widely available and the scope of improvement would be significant.

Even in Indiana, where water quality generally ranks with the nation's lowest and water protection policies receive harsh criticism from environmentalists, decisive action is a proven possibility. This state banned phosphates from laundry detergent in the 1970s and in 2008 removed dishwashing as an exception.

While a legislative committee deliberates on the phosphorus issue, state and private efforts are under way to tame the beast through regulation, education and technique. For several years, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has been encouraging and prodding the use of buffers and other methods of reducing runoff, both for farms and residences.

It is an irony of our times that the obviously toxic factory waste that used to be synonymous with pollution has given way to nutrients — manure and chemical fertilizer — as the worst culprit. And the enemy, with apologies to Pogo, is largely us. Wetlands and undeveloped shorelines have been devoured by suburban sprawl as well as farm expansion. Food production has joined with beautification in creating a mess that will require a massive, and mass, cleanup. History says the job will get done.

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