H2O: Ideas & Action for Canada's Water

These two warnings, from Ontario and New York, about blue-green algae blooms came to my attention over the last couple of days. The warnings from New York State include a comprehensive map and a description of what water bodies are being tested routinely. I was disappointed to see Central Park Lake, in the famous park, listed but being amidst such a dense population would likely put it at high risk.
We’ve had no warnings of blue-green algae blooms in my home province of Manitoba yet but given our extended winter and slow start to summer, that is not a surprise. I would like to track incidence of blue-green algae throughout Canada this summer so if you become aware of a bloom in your area, I would appreciate receiving a message about it. I can be contacted at vickiburns@mts.net

Central Park Lake photo courtesy of Mytravelphotos.net

As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, the threats of blue-green algae are increasing and becoming more common in many water bodies throughout North America. The problems of too much phosphorus and nitrogen, getting into our waterways are not limited to any particular region. We do already know some of the ways we can decrease those excess nutrients from getting into our waters but we need to do a much better job of educating the public and our elected officials so that the right choices can be made. I’ve seen several organizations using the slogan “swimmable, fishable, drinkable” to describe our goals for freshwater and I couldn’t agree more!