Algal bloom detected in Androscoggin Lake

Climate change is impacting the health of Maine’s lakes, according to the nonprofit 30 Mile River Watershed Association. Last week the association discovered a toxic algal bloom in Androscoggin Lake, making it unsafe to swim there.

Biologist Bob Capers, who volunteers for the group, said algal blooms are occuring earlier due to higher water temperatures, heavy rains, and the use of fertilizer that runs off soil into the water.

“It’s not an Androscoggin Lake story, it’s a story about all of our lakes and the multiple stressors affecting them. The one thing we can do is limit the phosphorus inputs into the lakes and that’s the one thing we can really do to control these outbreaks of cyanobacteria,” Capers said.

Capers said Androscoggin Lake has had algal blooms before but this one has occured earlier in the season. He added any lake with an algal bloom should be avoided.

“The concern with algae blooms, in this case cyanobacteria, is it produces toxins that can be harmful to children and to pets. So people should stay out of the water if there’s an algae bloom there,” he said.

An algal bloom is declared when the clarity of the water decreases below the 2 meter level.

Capers said the period when oxygen levels in the water fall below 2 mg/liter started in June this season and that’s unprecedented in Androscoggin Lake, according to the nonprofit’s water quality analysis. He said phosphorus levels were also up last year, averaging 16 ppb compared with a historic average of 14 ppb.