Beach closures, habitat loss and degradation and beach fouling in the eastern basin continue to be major concerns, the study's authors say.

A U.S.-Canada governmentstudyexamining the status and trends of the Great Lakes ecosystem determined that Lake Erie's ecosystem is in poor condition and deteriorating.

Those findingswere released recently in the State of the Great Lakes 2017 Highlights Report. The report was assembled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Environment and Climate Change Canada.

"I am not surprised that Lake Erie is in the most difficultcondition of the five Great Lakes,''saidDave Skellie,acoastal land use and economic specialist with Pennsylvania Sea Grant. "Why is it having these problems? There are a lot of population centers, and Lake Erie is the most developed from a land use and population standpoint, with Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Erie and Buffalo on its shores.''

The ecosystem status for Lake Superior was found to be "in good condition and the trend is unchanging,'' while the ecosystem status for Lakes Michigan, Huron and Ontario were labeled "in fair condition and the trend is unchanging,'' according to the study.

Overall, the Great Lakes are assessed as fair and unchanging.

The U.S. and Canadian governments, pursuant to theGreat Lakes Water Quality Agreement,basedtheir studyfindings on nine indicators of ecosystem health: drinking water, beaches, fish consumption, toxic chemicals, habitats and species, nutrients and algae, invasive species, groundwater quality, and watershed impacts and climate trends.

Those indicators are supported by 44 sub-indicators, which measure such things as concentrations of contaminants in water and fish tissue, changes in the quality of and abundance of wetland habitat and the introduction and spread of invasive species.

More than 180 government and nongovernment Great Lakes scientists and other experts assembled data on the sub-indicators and what those indicators revealed. Status was defined as poor, fair or good. Trend was defined as deteriorating, unchanging or improving.

"Harmful algal blooms resulting from excessive nutrient inputs occur regularly in the western basin and Lake St. Clair during summer, and have impacted drinking water treatment systems,'' the study said of Lake Erie. "Beach closures, habitat loss and degradation, and beach fouling in the eastern basin continue to be major concerns.''

OtherLake Erie study findingsindicate that increased amounts ofdecaying algae "exacerbate seasonal anoxia (depleted dissolved oxygen conditions) and hypoxia (low oxygen conditions) in bottom waters of the central basin.''

Despite thosechallenges, the study found some positive Lake Erie ecosystem trends, including increased walleye across the lake and lake sturgeon in the St. Clair-Detroit River system; increased aquatic habitat connectivity due to dam removal and mitigation projects; and declines insea lamprey wounding of fish since 2010.

The study reports that, since 2009, the western Lake Erie Cooperative Weed Management Area partners in Ohio and Michigan have treated more than13,000 acres of invasive phragmites, resulting in a 70 percent decrease in live phragmites in Ohio and a resurgence of native plants in Michigan and Ohio.

Some of those study indicators also tell researchers that the Great Lakes remain a source of high-quality drinking water; that some beaches are unsafe for swimming at times due to bacterial contamination; that we are losing the battle against aquatic invasive species, and that we face challenges with nutrient loadings in Lake Erie.

"Information from studies like these are crucial to informing the public and helping regulating agencies do their job better,'' Skellie said. "It appears that Lake Erie is being hit the hardest with these series of problems with the nine indicators of the Great Lakes ecosystem health.''

While the study reports that progress has been made in reducing toxic chemicals in the Great Lakes,the reportsays invasive species, harmful algal blooms and nutrient-related runoff continue to harm the Great Lakes Basin ecosystem.

"We continue to move into outlying areas, where you have more impact on the watershed that is draining into the lakes,'' Skellie said.

Skellie said more than 180 invasive species are established in the Great Lakes basin.

"We have a lot of challenges there,'' Skelliesaid."I would say we have a lot of work to do to stabilize where we're at, let alone moving the needle in a positive direction to restoring the lakes closer to where they once were. It's never going to return to pre-humanity days. We have to work harder and be smarterand find resources to address these problems.''

Ron Leonardi can be reached at 870-1680 or by email. Follow him on twitter at twitter.com/ETNleonardi.

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Study: Health of Lake Erie's ecosystem 'poor, deteriorating' - GoErie.com