INDIANAPOLIS —
Late summer is a peak time of year for the state’s recreational lakes and reservoirs, but visitors at some properties are being warned about the perils of dipping into the water.
In recent weeks, state health and environmental officials have had to post notices about toxic blue-green algae plaguing some popular swimming beaches and boating sites, and are warning Hoosiers to be careful about exposure to the water. The culprit is a common pond scum that flourishes in the hot, dry weather conditions that covered much of Indiana through July and into early August. It’s an aquatic bacteria that can turn from harmless to highly toxic without much warning.
“There’s a lot of still, stagnant water out there,” said Lenore Tedesco, a research scientist working with the state in a program that monitors more than 60 public lakes and reservoirs in the state. “So the conditions are right.”
It’s not just an Indiana problem; in recent weeks, states from Ohio to Oklahoma have reported closing down beaches or limiting lake access due to outbreaks of toxin-producing algal blooms.
Tedesco is director of the Center for Earth and Environmental Science, known as CEES, at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. CEES scientists are working with Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the Indiana State Department of Health, and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to get a handle on the algae.
Among their combined efforts is a website, www.algae.in.gov, that explains the perils of blue-green algae and contains regularly updated information on the lakes and reservoirs that are being monitored.
On Aug. 5, the website carried a warning about “possible high levels” of blue-green algae at “many of Indiana’s reservoirs and lakes” and urged swimmers and boaters “to be careful in all recreational waters” during this time of the year.
It also encouraged those swimmers and boaters who may be exposed to the toxins produced by concentrated levels of blue-green algae to shower after they’ve been in the water and avoid swallowing the water.
Sam Boggs, property manager at Chain O’ Lakes State Park in northern Indiana had to post a notice warning of high levels of blue-green algae detected near one of the park’s public beaches in late June. He said it didn’t cause much consternation among park patrons, but he was glad to be able take the notice down two weeks later, after levels had dropped.
“On any weekend, we attract 3,000 to 4,000 visitors,” Boggs said. “We want them to feel safe being here.”
While monitoring has taken place at many of the state park lakes there have been no reported issues of blue-green algae contamination.
“We’ve had no reports at any of our state forest lakes of any blue-green algae,” said DNR Communications Director Phil Bloom. “There is testing that is done at a number of lakes around the state. As of a week ago [there were] no reported problems.”
Clark County’s Deam Lake with beach access is a common spot for swimmers and tourists and has not reported any problems with the algae.
“We’ve not had an issue with it at Deam Lake,” Bloom said.
State Rep. Dick Dodge, a Republican from Northeast Indiana, has been particularly vocal about the issue; his district contains more than 100 lakes, many of which are destinations for tourists. “When you start talking about closing those lakes to people , you're talking about a significant impact on a region's economy,” Dodge said.
Among the challenges he faces: Neither Indiana nor the U.S. have clear regulations on what's considered an acceptable level of blue-green algae toxins in recreational water use. Indiana officials working on the lake and reservoir monitoring program follow guidelines set by the World Health Organization when they issue advisories. Some states, including neighboring Ohio, use a lower threshold.
Dodge authored a bill that would have required retailers of phosphorus-containing lawn fertilizers to distribute educational material with their products, instructing users when and how to apply the product. The bill failed, but Dodge said he'll push for it again in the next session.
Tedesco said eliminating phosphorus from lawn fertilizer won't solve the problem since there are a multitude of sources of phosphorus, from animal manure to wastewater treatment plants. But she agreed that it's one step that individuals can take to help mitigate the problem of blue-green algae toxins in the state's lakes and reservoirs. “We've completely over-fertilized Planet Earth,” Tedesco said.
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