algae – C-VILLE Weekly

Bloom time: Chris Greene Lake dodges algae so far

By Eileen Abbott

In the serenity of an early June morning, while mountain mist embraces the treetops, pilot Mandy Baskin’s hot air balloon gently floats above Chris Greene Lake Park, off U.S. 29 North, her favorite scenic launch site.

“The water looks so clean and inviting lately. It’s absolutely beautiful,” observes Baskin, owner of Monticello Country Ballooning. “We’ve seen a big difference from the air. It looks much cleaner, with less algae growth and less murkiness.”

On the ground at the beach, Michelle Oehmke ventures into the water with her paddleboard. “I didn’t come here last year due to the closing,” she says. She’s delighted she can enjoy the lake again. “It’s gorgeous and a good way to get away from it all.”

Nearby, teenagers Landon Shackleford, Cole Shackleford, and Bri Smiley splash in their favorite swimming spot, while others, like Bill Robbins and his 10-year-old daughter Melody, fish on the pier.

Things were not so bucolic last summer, when the lake was closed for almost two weeks due to harmful algae levels, nor in 2017, when an algal spike shut it down for three months.

“It’s super important for the water to be clean and healthy for swimming, fishing, and dog playing” says Baskin, who grew up going to Chris Greene. “When the bloom was going on, I wouldn’t even want my dogs in that water. Ick!”

The harmful algal blooms that lurked in the lake are not expected to be a problem this summer, according to SOLitude Lake Management, the company recently contracted by Albemarle County to proactively treat and monitor Chris Greene Lake.

Shannon Junior, SOLitude ecologist, says the company will be taking regular samples to test oxygen levels, temperature, and algae species to make sure there are “no water quality problems or dangerous cyanobacteria in the lake.”

Ick factor: Algal blooms were a problem in past years. SOLitude Lake Management

Cyanobacteria, also called blue-green algae, have the potential to produce toxins that can be harmful to humans and wildlife, says Junior. Its toxicity has been associated with diseases like ALS and Parkinson’s.

“Some algae are actually helpful for the aquatic community, but cyanobacteria, in particular, can be a sign of water quality issues and undesirable nutrient loading,” says Junior.

There are thousands of cyanobacteria species. Some are distinct in appearance—depending on the water body—and may manifest in parallel streaks or clumped dots. “Other blooms may look like spilled blue, green, or white paint, or turn the water a bright pea-soup green,” she says.

Tim Hughes with Albemarle Parks & Rec says the blooms are a concern, not only because they interrupt recreation operations, but because they pose a health risk. Symptoms can include upset stomach, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, skin rash, tingling or burning, and coughing.

“Children and pets are most vulnerable because they are more likely to swallow the water,” he says. “Even a small amount can cause illness.”

Why the blooms appeared is still a bit of a mystery. The county is requesting bids for a complete lake profile and watershed study, says Hughes.

“Nutrients flow into water bodies from stormwater runoff, fertilizer, agricultural runoff, and from regulated facilities like sewage treatment plants,” he says. “Sunlight, nutrients, and warm temperatures are perfect conditions for an algae bloom. Blooms are more likely to occur during hot, dry weather from June to September. Unfortunately there is no way to predict when a bloom will occur.”

SOLitude uses an EPA-registered “water-quality enhancer” and algaecide called SeClear that Junior says is effective and safe for use in recreational waters and even in drinking water.

The product helps improve water quality by reducing the concentration of phosphorus, which is the primary fuel for cyanobacteria, she says.

John Murphy, Albemarle’s watershed stewardship manager, says it’s not just Chris Greene Lake that’s dealt with harmful algal blooms.

“We know these blooms are increasing around the country and the world, he says. “This is a complicated problem made even more complicated by the potential additional factor of a warming trend. Higher temperatures must be considered as one of the culprits.”

In the meantime, Baskin and guests on her hot air balloon are savoring Chris Greene Lake’s renewed, clear water. “Usually we launch at the waterside and drift feet, sometimes inches, above the water and mist,” says Baskin. “It’s magical.”

In bloom: Algae in reservoirs ‘significant’

An unquantified, but substantial amount of blue-green algae has bloomed at the Beaver Creek and South Fork Rivanna reservoirs, according to a new report presented to the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority’s board of directors May 24. Consultants say the water supply at Ragged Mountain Reservoir is another one to watch.

Algae—caused by a nutrient overload—is problematic in a water system because it can cause taste and odor compounds, cyanotoxins and filter clogging.

At Beaver Creek and South Fork, consultants and RWSA staff have spent nearly $120,000 since 2014 on chemical treatments to stop the algae. While the consultants will present the board with a modified monitoring program for those reservoirs in the coming weeks, they have instructed staff to continue monitoring the water at Ragged Mountain, in which they have found occasional floating algae.

“I’d be very surprised if [Ragged Mountain Reservoir] didn’t develop problems very soon,” Alexander Horne, a professor emeritus of environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, says. He, along with Kelly DiNatale of DiNatale Water Consultants, presented the report.

RWSA board members had questions about cost and procedures, but they all generally seemed to agree that treating the blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, is a priority.

“It’s all going straight into your bathtub,” former city councilor Dede Smith said at the meeting. She has led the charge to keep Ragged Mountain Reservoir a natural area, while her opponents hope to make the area less exclusive by permitting dog walking, mountain biking and other recreational activities.

The side that leans toward permanently banning dogs and other pets often cites the harmful effects of animal droppings in the water supply.

“While livestock are the greatest contributor of animal waste, perhaps the least suspected source of animal waste is a man’s very own best friend,” the EPA states in a 2014 bulletin on its website. “Pets, particularly dogs, are significant contributors to source water contamination.”

The EPA has also cited dog waste as a contributor to excess nutrients that lead to algal bloom.

“It’s serious,” says Smith. “As a community, we have the opportunity now to prevent this from happening at what has become the single most important reservoir we have.”

But DiNatale points to research that shows Ragged Mountain may not need to remain sans Sparky for the overall health of the water supply.

“Animal droppings, whether from wild or domestic animals, represent a very minor source of nutrient inflows to the authority’s reservoirs,” he says. “We could remove all of the animals, both wild and domestic, but still would be experiencing algae blooms from all of the other sources.”

There’s always tension between allowing recreational activities near reservoirs and protecting the water supply, DiNatale says, and that’s partially why RWSA is looking for in-lake algae-management methods.

“With that said, it is always preferable to address whatever land use activities are manageable,” he says. “Every water provider would love to have a protected watershed without any animal or human impacts, but, as we know, that is impossible for virtually all of the country’s water supplies.”

But Smith cites a 2002 letter from the Virginia Department of Health to the authority, in which she says the department “admonished RWSA for not considering the quality of its raw water source.”

In the letter, the department stressed that the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments and the EPA have placed “greater emphasis on source water protection and preventing contaminants from entering water supplies in lieu of the past practice of removing contaminants at water treatment facilities.”

According to Smith, failure to protect the water source has already led to contamination of half of our reservoirs, the necessity to add chemicals and heavy metals for purification and about $25 million in new infrastructure to deal with the worst of the pollution.

“In other words,” she says, “don’t contaminate your raw water source in the first place.”

March 9, 2016: One local wants litter removed from the Rivanna