Fresh Water Algal Blooms: The Great Lakes
Communities around all the Great Lakes are currently dealing with human health and ecosystem management issues associated with algal blooms.
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The toxic blooms caused by some species of cyanobacteria, a photosynthetic bacteria, cause concern because of the challenges they present to maintaining the integrity of the local drinking water systems. Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are currently experiencing the highest number of bloom incidents, however blooms are also showing up around Lake Sinclair, Saginaw and Green Bay, among other areas. The video presentation of Harmful Algal Blooms by two researchers working on the issue provides greater detail. There is a map at the 49:19 time mark showing the current range of the bloom areas.
Large algal blooms that cause dead zones, or oxygen depleted areas incapable of supporting life, are also increasing. The central basin of Lake Erie, for example, is once again a dead zone. Area residents experienced a similar situation in the early 1970s. and they instituted a series of measures to deal with the problem such as removing phosphates from laundry detergents and reducing phosphorus discharges from wastewater treatment facilities.
The latest research shows an increasing trend in phosphorus loading between 1995-2005 coming from three rivers in Northern Ohio, Cuyahoga, Sandusky and Grand. (see Thirty-Year Phosphorus Trends in Ohio Lake Erie Tributaries: What's Happening and Why?. It is a video lecture from 7/12/07 presented by Dr. R. Peter Richards, National Center for Water Quality Research, Heidelberg College.
The first lecture listed on the page in the preceding link, Geology of the Great Lakes: From Volcanoes to Glaciers - Three Billion Years of Spectacular Scenery in the Making is equally as instructive, and it provides an optimistic vantage point for thinking about managing the lake's water quality problems. Based on a variety of geological and hydrological factors, Lake Erie has the potential to recover from ecosystem damage much quicker than the other four lakes (2.7 years compared to 185 years for Lake Superior).
Increased diligence in water quality improvements by Great Lakes residents may not turn the central basin of Lake Erie into the optimal environment for a hydroponic garden. Nonetheless, recent past experiences show that another round of problem solving efforts has the potential for removing most of the green carpet that covers much of the lake's central basin as well as the green carpets covering other areas on the Great Lakes.
© 2007 Patricia A. Michaels