“We’re looking at a bloom forecast that is definitely worse that 2014, and is potentially the second-most severe bloom in history, behind the record-setting bloom of 2011” said Rick Stumpf, an oceanographer and algae bloom specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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Earlier algae predictions were made after a dry April and May but that has changed dramatically after historic rains in June.
“So we do know that Lake Champlain has some blue green algae blooms and about a hundred fifty thousand people do drink water that comes from Lake Champlain”.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most-severe bloom in the history of the lake, researchers this morning predicted this summer’s bloom will be an 8.7. Blue-green algae may not look dense, and it doesn’t always cover large areas of a lake. The city also says it’s better prepared this time. They said toxins can not be removed by boiling or filtering the water.
The key to solving algae problems is to improve overall water quality by reducing how much phosphorus gets into lakes from urban and agricultural runoff and wastewater treatment systems. The charcoal typically costs more.
Jeff Reutter, a senior adviser to and former director of Ohio State University’s Sea Grant program and Stone Laboratory, said the Toledo water crisis was a “wake-up call to the serious nature of harmful algal blooms in America’s waters”. “So there hasn’t been any detections in the few samples we have gotten in”, Vose said.
To provide more real-time information during the bloom season, NOAA has produced harmful algal bloom (HAB) bulletins for western Lake Erie since 2008.
Lake Champlain is the drinking water source for about 150,000 Vermonters. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the bill in 2014.
What this information means, according to Ramcharan, is that it can be used as a tool for lake managers to quickly identify where nutrients like phosphorus are entering the lake in order to take a proactive approach in deterring the algal blooms. The blue and green algae were the ones to benefit most from the event and now they are growing at an alarming rate.
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Blue-green algae generally grows in lakes, ponds and slow-moving streams, especially when the water is warm.
