CLEARLAKE ? A town hall meeting Monday educated members of the community on the blue-green algae situation prolific in the south lake area and provided an opportunity for volunteer action. Sunset Resort Owner Dian Gibson, with the support and assistance of Clearlake City Councilmember Joyce Overton, is taking the lead in organizing a community task force to ease the detrimental impact odiferous lyngbya is having on the economic and recreational stability of the community.
Monday”s meeting featured presentations by various experts representing county, tribal, city, business and community interests. History of the lake, with data dating back to 1873, was shared as was more recent information relative to the situation at hand.
Dr. Harry Lyons, a local professor and biology expert, provided a science lesson on the characteristics of lyngbya, which is a form of cyanobacteria.
“Clear Lake is famous around the world and it”s famous for what troubles you ? blue-green algae. That doesn”t mean that it”s famous for the pile-up of algae,” Lyons said. “The lake is healthy but it has pulses of overgrowth. It may have been the worst but it was not the first.”
Lyons said that a lack of rain, which has lowered the water level of the lake as well as cooler conditions have likely contributed to the prolific growth of algae that is currently being experienced. Lyngbya, he explained, is stimulated by nutrients, which are easily mixed in cooler, shallower water.
Data he said he received from Lake County Environmental Health has assured him that a raw sewage discharge has not occurred. He said that chloroform levels measured in the thousands; however, such a level is not unusual in a pile of lyngbya. E-Coli levels were reportedly recorded at 250, which he said was also not unusual. “What would alarm me and what I”d look for are numbers in the tens of thousands,” he said.
Lyons said that the stench the pile-ups of lyngbya are emitting is not scientifically unusual either. “Anytime you have that much organic matter piled up, it”s going to stink,” he said. “Adding oxygen helps lower the odor.”
Lyons said that when you spray water on the lyngbya mats, which form at the time of decay, it adds oxygen to the matter. He said stirring up the mats also adds oxygen. These are short term solutions; long term solutions Lyons offered included taking care of the shoreline and restoring wetlands, watersheds and streambeds.
Tom Smythe, Water Resources Division of Lake County Public Works, provided a history of the lake and explained the effect an increase in nutrients has had on the life in the lake.
A steady increase in population has led to increased development in the watershed, or the land that drains into the lake. Increased erosion resulting from development has led to an increase in the amount of nutrients entering Clear Lake, changing its natural character.
Smythe included a data synopsis that dated back to 1873, in which a large amount of mat-type algae was identified. The combination of a vast watershed, relatively shallow depth and Mediterranean climate makes Clear Lake water warm and very productive, or eutrophic. Studies indicate that Clear Lake is eutrophic now and has been since the last ice age.
Restoration of the nutrient balance can be achieved by reducing nutrient additions to Clear Lake.
Nutrients come from erosion and other sources within the watershed. A key to improving the water quality in the lake is to manage the entire watershed. Management tools such as erosion control, creek and wetland protection and restoration and vegetation management are being implemented to improve the water quality of Clear Lake.
Gibson is spearheading a task force to deal with the algae problem. For more information or to volunteer, contact Gibson at 994-6642 or e-mail her at dgsunset@mchsi.com. Councilmember Joyce Overton can also be contacted for further information at 350-2892 or by e-mail at overton@hotmail.com.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
