Fear of Our Water

Fear of Our Water

By Emma Rippe

Have you ever questioned drinking tap water? I realize that I never have, but the article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette might make you think twice. In “Wildlife: Toxic algae blooms not likely in Lake Erie's waters near Pennsylvania,” by Scott Shalaway, Lake Erie, Ohio, had an outbreak of blue-green algae that made water undrinkable for several days.

Our very own Lake Champlain is full of living organisms, from fish to plants to algae, but what if those were all to be covered up? What beauty would there be to admire? Do you ever find yourself swimming in the lake, spending the summers having fun on North Beach or in Oakledge Park? What if you could no longer engage in those activities because you feared getting sick from the water?

Unfortunately some of Lake Champlain is being covered by “pond scum,” also known as blue-green algae (cyanobacteria), a bacterium that gets its energy from photosynthesis. The algae creates a blue-green veil over the top of a lake, slow moving river, or pond, causing the production of toxins, water discoloration, and decrease of its access to light and oxygen. Such complications lead to a destabilization of marine life as their environment is being compromised.

Now we ask, what is causing our waters to be like this? Well, phosphates are the cause of this blue-green algae bloom. One may believe that it is natural and that nature might be causing this to occur, but in reality, us, people, our community is the catalyst to the damage. Phosphorous is the chemical compound PO₄^3-, and is contained in farming fertilizer, detergent, pesticides, matches, and cleaning products. Thus, phosphorus enters our ecosystem from the run-off of roads, soil, and underground waters.

Lake Champlain has blue-green algae growing in it, like most lakes do. Wind and waves can push the scum around, meaning their conditions can change over the course of just one week. Though it seems ugly yet harmless, it posits real danger for humans and animals; according to Department of Health Agency of Humans Services Vermont, “During the summer of 1999, the death of two dogs was attributed to blue-green algae poisoning after drinking large amounts of contaminated water directly from Lake Champlain.” In regards to its implications on humans, it causes symptoms such as vomiting, fever, stomach cramps, diarrhea, blistered lips, and throat sore according to Health Link British Columbia. Would you want to risk yourself to that sort of harm or put your pet in risk of death?

The presented information then begs the most realistic question of what exactly is the state of contamination in Lake Champlain? Based on Vermont Blue-Green Algae Tracker, there are certain areas that we should be concerned about in Champlain that are marked as “high alert,” meaning it has been seen in the area to the date now (November 9^th 2014) and mainly “low alerts” or “generally safe” areas all around Champlain. According to Department of Health Agency of Humans Services Vermont: The main parts of the Lake are: (based on October 2014 reports)

North – Mostly good conditions reported, but low alert conditions reported in various areas. The Long Point area including the marina in Charlotte is experiencing a substantial bloom.

Central – Good conditions reported. No reports of blooms. This area is considered generally safe.

South – Mixed conditions reported. Anyone active on the water or along the shoreline should be alert for and avoid contact with blue-green algae blooms and accumulations.

One must also consider the current season; blue-green algae presents itself mainly in summer, ranging from early sightings as early as May, and an increase in the peak heat of June to August.

            Tackling the questions of how can we help and what precisely is Vermont doing about this issue, the Lake Champlain Committee talk about the projects they have created to have a cleaner lake, including “Pushing for boat holding tank laws to make dumping boat waste illegal on the lake,” “Lobbying for sewage treatment upgrades and phosphorus removal at wastewater treatment plants,” “Supported Best Management Practices for farms and the adoption of nutrient management plans to reduce phosphorus loading from agriculture.” Personally, I believe their efforts so far are tangible and they have a true grasp on the great lake’s situation.

            Wanting to know the community’s thoughts, I spoke to Zach Johnston, a biology student at Saint Michael’s College class of 2017, and he told me that he was learning about phosphorus in one of his biology classes right now. Curious to hear his perspective on the matter, he agreed that the phosphorus levels were too elevated and real actions must be taken to bring the levels to a more acceptable level.

I continued to ask what he thinks the biggest causes of phosphorus are, and he described that there are two types of sources: point (one point that can point to and say that it is causing pollution) and nonpoint (a source that can be something that one can tell is causing pollution). He says water treatment facilities and industrial discharges are examples of a point source of phosphorus and that agriculture or urban runoffs are examples of nonpoint sources. He brings up “The majority of the pollution in Lake Champlain (90%) comes from nonpoint sources, the two major causes of this bring urban runoff and agricultural runoff, with 46% coming from urban land runoff, and 38% coming from agricultural runoff.” I think that Johnston brings up a logical point that most of our pollution is from the precipitation runoff from rain and snow.

 In response to the question of short- and long-term solutions, the student said that temporarily, individual citizens of the surrounding area could do their part with the example of “a garden doesn’t need to be fertilized every year” (in response to pesticides). As for long-term ways of helping our lake, Johnston believes governmental and legislative involvement is necessary to enact in-state laws given that the majority of phosphorus comes from nonpoint sources; one place to start is the implementation and regulation of more sustainable farm practices, as pesticides is a substantial part of the nonpoint causes.

My final question for my interviewee was what he thinks our community can do to help prevent the amount of phosphorus going into our lake; he says that if one is interested then they should write to the representative to help pass legislations to create a way to prevent the problem.

            After interviewing biology student Zach Johnston, I thought about some of the questions myself, and I agree with his thoughts. I share his opinions on how the community can contribute to dealing with this environmental issue. A great way of helping out with this is by reporting a sighting of blue-green algae, which could help prevent people from getting sick, and even saving an animal’s life. I personally believe that we do need to bring government in to help prevent those “nonpoint” sources of phosphorus from getting worse.

            Overall we can only do the smallest actions to help prevent the phosphorus levels from getting worse, but all the small actions can make all the difference. The only way to help us from being able to feel safe about swimming, bringing our dogs, drinking water, and bringing your family to Lake Champlain or any lake, is by making a small actions, like reporting sights of blue-green algae, getting others to recognize the problem, or getting legislations past. Recently in January 2012, the Act No. 37 (H.26) is the law regulating phosphorus application to turf in Vermont, was passed, which “The act prohibits the application to turf of fertilizer with a phosphate content of greater than 0.67 percent by weight (essentially "0"), except when turf is deficient in phosphorus as shown by a soil test or when fertilizer is labeled as starter fertilizer intended for application to turf in the first season when grass is being established.” (Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets) Our actions and words are making all the difference; we are progressing to make our lake cleaner and making our world a better place to live in. Maybe our generation will never have to fear their children getting sick from the water they swim in.