A bad summer for water
quality in Lake Champlain seems to be getting worse. Over the past week, hot
weather, low water levels and a huge bloom of blue green algae have combined to
cause a massive fish kill in Missisquoi Bay.
It’s not unusual for
blue-green algae to appear in Lake
Champlain in the summer, particularly
when it’s hot. But what is unusual is for it to be appearing this early in the
year.
After last year’s flooding, which sent record amounts of
phosphorous into the lake, and a recent streak of hot weather, blue-green
algae blooms have appeared in Lake Champlain earlier than normal this year, and have been more
widespread.
The town of Williston is reporting high phosphorous levels in Lake Iroquois. But officials say
they’re challenged in managing blue-green algae blooms because four towns
co-manage the lake.
Blue-green algae have spread across a broad swath of Lake Champlain this
summer. A tour of the Burlington area by boat shows that the thick
blooms seen earlier in the week have been mostly dispersed by the wind
and
waves.