COLUMBUS – Heavy rain and farmland runoff are causing algae problems all over Ohio.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
One type of algae has made drinking water in parts of Columbus taste foul and smell funky while another type is building up in Lake Erie and is predicted to stretch between Toledo and Cleveland by summer’s end.
Anabanae algae that formed in Hoover Reservoir after heavy downpours have washed into the public water supply at one of Columbus’ water-treatment plants, and the city is fighting it with costly chemicals.
“The amount of (algae) is similar to the last few summers. The difference this year is timing and rainfall,” said George Zonders, a spokesman for Columbus’ water department.
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And on Thursday, Lake Erie scientists announced that this year’s algae bloom there could grow nearly as large as the colossus that formed in 2011. That type of algae are called Microcystis, and they produce a liver toxin that can sicken people and kill pets.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most-severe bloom in the lake’s recorded history, scientists expect this summer’s bloom to score an 8.7.
The Erie bloom likely will peak in September, said Craig Stow, who creates aquatic ecosystem models for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.