July 10: Algae alerts

As temperatures warm up, the instances of toxic algae are beginning to pick up. Two Nebraska lakes have health alerts posted on them: Red Willow Reservoir in Frontier County and Johnson Lake in Gosper County. The alert for Swan Creek Lake 5A in Saline County has ended.

While it's called toxic algae because of its appearance, it is not a true algae. Instead, it is a cyanobacteria that can produce toxins fatal to pets and harmful to people. Researchers believe that the cyanobacteria is becoming more prevalent as more nutrients flush into lakes. There may have been a connection in past years to low water levels that led to warmer lakes.

This summer, the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality is sampling 46 public lakes on a weekly basis. The results are posted on Fridays on the web sites for the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services: www.deq.state.ne.us and www.dhhs.ne.gov

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has a good web site that provides pictures that show what is and isn't toxic algae. See the link at this web site: water.unl.edu/web/lakes/toxicalgae

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