Let’s Talk about Cyanobacteria!

[ApS]

Originally Posted by C-Bass

This should be the goal of Lake Winnipesaukee.. Interesting video, a lot of good points

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ6bgvGdMQM

I never thought I'd last through 24 minutes of a Q and A session, but I did...!

Notice the landscape (not so much the Loons surfacing) behind the speaker, as he says that it's the trees that keep Lake Sebago water's purity intact. (And that the majority of the trees are White Pine).
Even though the dock and boats tied to it are relatively small, they don't dominate the surroundings. (You may have to search the areas "tucked between the trees" in the background for them).

It's essential that Sebago keep its cleanliness, as it's a reservoir for the City of Portland, as well as the seven surrounding towns that border it.

No such concerns exist here (until lately) upon reaching a crisis where swimmers, skiers, tubers and bathers begin to show evidence of longterm neurological distress.

Often supported by Federal Grants, methodologies by the state of Maine make it easy to keep forests intact along the shorefront.

I see it as "A Perfect Storm".

1) Last season's heavy rains have washed countless (and distant) green lawns' fertilizers into the greater Winnipesaukee Basin.

2) Recent Lake Kanasatka's obvious blooms "seeded" the Big Lake last season.

(Apply "Occam's Razor" to their problem nearby).

3) No recent breezes to dilute blooms, so hot surface waters are quietly "cooking the broth".

4) The lake's level has been kept artificially high, causing waves (but especially wakes) to reach deeper into the sub-soils which have sequestered tons of phosphorus and nitrogen.

5) Pine-tree pollen, which slows the normal mixing and dilution of Spring's lakefront waters is occurring presently--warming surface waters.

6) A hot seasonal weather pattern which encourages biological growth is upon us and likely to put a synergistic action into this mess.

7) This is not to mention the sandbar problem.

On this rainy day, I reorganized the file cabinet. In my "Environment" file, I stumbled across a Swiss study that found prescription statins in their ground water. Switzerland doesn't manufacture statins, and the study is 20 years old!

8) In former years, snow on thick ice cover kept our waters from "solar gain".

This past winter scarcely rated an "Ice-In".

9) Phosphorus is one of many chemicals that are used in fireworks' aerial displays.

https://www.thoughtco.com/elements-in-fireworks-607342

I'd shelve that concern for now, as a huge number of northern-tier lakes can be affected by this byproduct.

Injuries are bad enough, so restrictions on excessive recreational fireworks need to be studied.

.

ETA:
With this Memorial Day Weekend's very high waters and huge wakes, I noticed I couldn't see my feet even ten feet from shore! These abusive wakes were seriously eroding the banks of Lake Winnipesaukee...!