It’s summer in Madison, and that can only mean one thing: people at the lakeshore. Unfortunately this year, a perennial but unwanted guest is showing up early. Blue-Green algae is turning the lakes green and causing some beach closures across town.
Blue-green algae is a type of bacteria that is dangerous to people and pets, mostly from inadvertently drinking the lake water. Because of that, Public Health Madison and Dane County monitors the public beaches around the county, and occasionally has to close them.
Public Health Madison and Dane County sends staff out to the public beaches at least once a week.
“If the beach looks good, then that might be their only visit for the week unless we get a report of algae being present or a complaint from a citizen in the area. If they visit the beach and there is some harmful algae present or there is high bacteria levels that would close the beach for swimmers, then we follow up every weekday to check the conditions again, test again, and hope we can reopen again as soon as possible once conditions are safe,” says Jennifer Lavender-Braun, lead microbiologist for PHMDC.
This year, the blooms began about two weeks earlier than normal, so early that PHMDC had not yet started their monitoring. Already this year the beaches at James Madison Park, Brittingham Park, and Marshall Park have had to be closed, among others. The problem goes beyond just Madison.
“Especially when we see the impact of nutrients in our waters, climate change in our area, more and more areas are having the effects of blue green algae. We are seeing it on the Great Lakes. Lake Erie is notorious for have some very large harmful algae blooms. We are starting to see some evidence of it up in Green Bay, on the Bay, where we have never seen it before. Its definitely an emerging issue, but its also something that has kind of always been around too,” says Lavender-Braun
To combat the problem, Madison and other municipalities have introduced a clean beach treatment system that encloses some swimming areas and cleans the water in them. So far, the new program has greatly reduced the number of needed beach closures at those parks.
Blue-green algae thrives in warm, still, nutrient-rich waters. Phosphorus run-off from fertilizers and plant matter helps it grow. The county is undertaking several “Suck the Muck” initiatives to increase water flow, and keep the phosphorus from building up, including in the Door Creek watershed which feeds into Lake Kegonsa. The plan is to reduce the amount of phosphorus that reaches Lake Kegonsa by more than 2300 pounds.
Water with dangerous levels of blue-green algae tends to have a vivid green color, and often smells unpleasant. Children are the most vulnerable to blue-green algae, since they may accidentally ingest lake water, and have a smaller body mass than adults.
There are variety of symptoms that are associated with algae poisoning.
“It could be anything from a respiratory symptom like a sore throat or a cough, maybe some eye irritation. It also could be other symptoms; gastro-intestinal issues like stomach-ache or stomach pain. And even some skin issues, you might have some itchy skin or red skin. So its a wide variety of symptoms that you could experience,” says Morgan Finke, communications coordinator for PHMDC. “Our biggest advice is if you do think you came into contact with blue green algae and are starting to develop symptoms, call your doctor right away. Also if you do that, you can call poison control, and they can walk you through the next steps.”
Pets and other animals can suffer from algae poisoning as well, so be careful allowing your dogs into the water at closed beaches.
Public Health Madison and Dane County keeps a list posted on their website of all beach closures, and visitors are encouraged to check the site before planning their lakeshore visit. If you think a beach that you are visiting may have blue-green algae, you can report it and Public Health will come and check.
Image Courtesy of Charos Pix on Flickr