LAKELAND - While it may not have been an unusually hot summer, a number of lakes in the region still have active blue-green algae health advisories in place, and research into identifying the sometimes toxic algal blooms continues to take place.
Rolf Vinebrooke is an Ecologist with the University of Alberta. For about eight years, the university has been working alongside Alberta Health - with the province doing the sampling of the water and the university taking over the research side once the sampling is done.
But, the work has been met with some budget constraints and not as much sampling is being done as of late.
A few years ago, Vinebrooke began looking into the idea of monitoring Alberta's lakes via satellite images. With budgets being especially tight this year, and Alberta Health resources dedicated to the COVID-19 pandemic, a more serious look is being taken at using the satellite images for the purpose of monitoring blue-green algae.
Active blue-green algae advisories can be seen here.
There are a number of different satellites that pass over the major lakes in Alberta, explains Vinebrook, adding, "they’re over us all the time.”
He describes the images as “data-rich images," and are essentially what the lakes looks like from outer space. Converting that data into how severe a blue-green alga bloom is on a lake can be done.
“We are Using Pigeon Lake as a test study,” says Vinebrook. The lake is a very popular spot, located about an hour southwest of Edmonton.
Researchers can pinpoint when the satellite is passing over Pigeon Lake, and if that matches up with a clear sunny day, with no clouds, then a field crew is sent out to the lake at the same time. The crew will go to about 30 different sites at the lake and sample the water. Then, they match the results with the satellite images and convert the data.
Once the mathematical model is in place, then field crews won't have to be out on the lake. Vinebrook says using the satellite images could be much more effective in the long-run.
A field crew can only spend so much time on a lake and sample before they have to pull the boat out and go to the next lake, which means they really only sample a small portion of the lake.
When speaking about how the images look, Vinebrook says from outer space, an algae bloom looks like a swirl. There could also be a lot of blue-green in one area, then an open area, and then another swirl somewhere else.
“When you’re on the lake, It’s hard to tell if you’re sampling in one of these swirls.”
Pictures are much more accurate than the manual approach of taking water samples. Vinebrook adds that the U of A is not the first to take this approach to blue-green algae monitoring. This kind of satellite monitoring has been done on a number of the Great Lakes and is becoming more of a common practice.
One challenge he's noticed is that “really small lakes are hard to monitor from space." But, "satellite technology is just developing so quickly," he adds.
Technology, overall, has helped the sampling process become much more efficient and quick, and water sampling is still being done along beaches using a FlowCam.
The FlowCam is an instrument that takes photographs and measures every particle of the water sample. Water is poured into the FlowCam, which streams the water and generates a collage of images on a computer screen.
Alberta Health wants data really fast, says Vinebrook. Older methods took longer to generate data, while the FlowCam generates data within 15 minutes.
Research into other areas around blue-green algae is also taking place at the University of Calgary, where they are looking at the toxins found in the algae. Sometimes there are large blooms that don’t have toxins, but there can also be small blooms with toxins, for example.
The algae blooms are a type of "chemical cocktail" made up of a bunch of different compounds. Regardless, Vinebrook notes it's common sense to avoid algae and clean yourself off after being in the water.
When looking at the blue-green algae situation across the province this summer, Vinebrook says this year is a lot like last year, with a bit of a delay being seen in blooms due to cool, wet weather.
Right now, there are some lakes with advisories, but not to the same extent that there have been in the past. And this year, the are some advisories that deal with other areas of water quality - such as fecal matter in water, which seems to be a more of a problem this season.
When speaking about lakes in the Lakeland region, Vinebrook says Moose Lake has been a lake that has received a bit more attention as far as blue-green algae monitoring. Vinebrook says there have been a lot of calls about the lake, and a few years ago there wasn't a focus on the lake, but concerns have now been passed on to Alberta Health.
Michael Schulz is the president at Healthy Waters Lac La Biche and is also a professor at Portage College in the Natural Resources Technology Program. Healthy Waters focuses on education and advocacy. Last year, the group became a society, and is one piece of a watershed management plan for Lac La Biche that's being done by Lac La Biche County.
The health of the lake is a concern to many residents, and has an impact on tourism and therefore the local economy.
When it comes to keeping the lake healthy, Schulz says “a lot of it has to do with relatively simple, every day things.”
People within the watershed should avoid using fertilizers and pesticides as much as possible, turning to environmentally friendly products instead. A big consideration is also how people treat the lakeshore. Landowners along the lake should keep a large buffer between them and the lake. Trees and grass are important in absorbing nutrients and catching runoff.
“People need to stop blowing up beaver dams,” adds Schulz. When looking at the big picture, wetlands do important functions, and blowing up beaver dams can disrupt that.
One of the biggest contributors to algae blooms is phosphorous levels in the lake - an ingredient in a lot of fertilizers. Manure is also very high in phosphorous, and human feces that isn’t properly treated.
For most algae in a lake, nitrogen is going to limit their ability to grow when conditions are ideal. But, the blue-green algae isn’t limited by nitrogen, explains Schulz.
“They will just keep growing and growing.”
Along with concerns around blue-green algae, Schulz says there are other issues to consider when looking at the health of a lake, such as lakes that have seen fish kills occur at different times of the year.
It’s always a good time for people to consider what’s healthy for the lake, says Schulz.
