The long-awaited state report on Lake Whatcom is a call to action in our community.

The Department of Ecology’s report on phosphorous and water quality in the lake did not reveal any unknown dangers. But it is the first step in the state’s requiring our community to stop pollution and to clean up the problems in the lake today.

The study says officials must take steps to reverse the worsening phosphorous problem, including cutting back storm-water runoff into the lake by at least 74 percent. The study places that burden directly on local government.

“It will be up to local government leaders to develop strategies and pass laws that improve storm-water management so storm water is absorbed, filtered and released into the lake more naturally, as if most of the development is not there,” the study says.

That effort is going to cost a lot of money and force some fundamental changes in local government.

Our elected officials must reprioritize spending to fix storm-water systems. They may have to make drastic cuts in other programs and use that tax money for the lake. They may be forced to raise storm-water fees to pay millions of dollars for systems needed in places such as the Silver Beach neighborhood, which has no storm-water system now.

This is not going to be easy. Government officials face myriad demands for funding for all kinds of projects. We encourage them to provide true leadership by making the tough financial choices necessary to solve this ecological problem.

Lake Whatcom has high phosphorous levels that many scientists and officials blame on excessive development around the lake. The phosphorous feeds algae growth, choking out oxygen and endangering life in the lake.

The algae is also a problem for humans, changing the taste and drinkability of the water and requiring more treatment before it can be used as drinking water. The lake serves as the drinking water source for approximately 95,000 people in Whatcom County, including the entire city of Bellingham.

But the new study isn’t only concerned with drinking water. Federal laws give the EPA and the Ecology Department the right to demand changes to protect endangered water bodies, regardless of whether they are used for drinking water. The problems in the lake led the state to add it to a list of federally recognized “impaired water bodies” several years ago, triggering the new study.

Political candidates talk about protecting Lake Whatcom in every election. But the water quality in the lake continues to deteriorate.

Meetings and planning documents must be replaced by action. New rules and restrictions on development need to be in place immediately. Money to retrofit existing development should be set aside starting today.

That is not only what this new state report requires, but it is the right thing to do for the future of the lake, and for our community.