John Stier says the 2004 bans on phosphorus-based fertilizers in Madison and Dane County were “well-intentioned,” but questions whether they’ll actually do much to reduce slimy algae blooms in Madison lakes.
Stier, an associate professor in UW-Madison’s horticulture department, was among the skeptics when the bans were first proposed in 2003, having maintained that lawn runoff was a minor source of phosphorus in the lakes. And he remains a skeptic today.