Post by scott on Aug 17, 2010 21:20:53 GMT -5
Hi Folks,
For those of you wondering about the brownish material suspended in Great East Lake, read on….
From AWWA/UNH…
The "algae" is Gloeotrichia which does occur regularly in Great East Lake but is far more abundant this year than others. It is a cyanobacteria. I took a sample to the UNH Lakes Lay Monitoring program last week for analysis and they will determine if it is producing any toxins. The results should be available next week and I'll share what I hear. Our regular monitors sampled last Friday and the secchi disk readings were not affected which is also typical of Gloeotrichia. It tends to be present in oligotrophic lakes only as it over winters in the sediments where it absorbs phosphorus and then become suspended when the temperature and light conditions are right. Clearly, the water this year has been considerably warmer than usual which would explain the high population.
< Linda Schier – AWWA>
I dug up a FAQ on this for more information. Very interesting with lots of pictures.
www.belgradelakesassociation.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=BVpSbs%2BbULk%3D&tabid=99
This is what we fear - this stuff settles and decays in deep water which depletes the oxygen and kills the fish. Our only approach is to eliminate the nutrients freely flowing into the lake. Let's get started before its too late.
For those of you wondering about the brownish material suspended in Great East Lake, read on….
From AWWA/UNH…
The "algae" is Gloeotrichia which does occur regularly in Great East Lake but is far more abundant this year than others. It is a cyanobacteria. I took a sample to the UNH Lakes Lay Monitoring program last week for analysis and they will determine if it is producing any toxins. The results should be available next week and I'll share what I hear. Our regular monitors sampled last Friday and the secchi disk readings were not affected which is also typical of Gloeotrichia. It tends to be present in oligotrophic lakes only as it over winters in the sediments where it absorbs phosphorus and then become suspended when the temperature and light conditions are right. Clearly, the water this year has been considerably warmer than usual which would explain the high population.
< Linda Schier – AWWA>
I dug up a FAQ on this for more information. Very interesting with lots of pictures.
www.belgradelakesassociation.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=BVpSbs%2BbULk%3D&tabid=99
This is what we fear - this stuff settles and decays in deep water which depletes the oxygen and kills the fish. Our only approach is to eliminate the nutrients freely flowing into the lake. Let's get started before its too late.