33Blue-green algae blooms have been identified in areas of Lac Santé (southwest of St. Paul), Laurier Lake (east of Elk Point) and Floating Stone Lake (west of Ashmont), Kehewin Lake (north of Elk Point) and Fork Lake (north of St. Lina) according to Alberta Health Services.
Residents living near the shores of these lakes, as well as visitors to the lakes, are advised to take precautions, such as avoiding all contact with blue-green algae blooms. If contact occurs, wash with tap water as soon as possible.
The media releases from AHS notes that people should not swim or wade, or allow pets to swim or wade, in any areas where blue-green algae is visible. And do not feed whole fish or fish trimmings from this lake to your pets.
People should consider limiting human consumption of whole fish and fish trimmings from lake with blue-green algae, as it is known that fish may store toxins in their liver. People can safely consume fish fillets from the lakes.
As always, visitors and residents are reminded to never drink or cook with untreated water directly from any recreational body of water, at any time. Boiling of this water will not remove the toxins produced by blue-green algae. An alternate source of drinking water should also be provided for pets and livestock, while advisories are active.
Blue-green algae is naturally occurring, and often becomes visible when weather conditions are calm. Appearing like scum, grass clippings, fuzz or globs on the surface of water, blue-green algae can be blue-green, greenish-brown, brown, and/or pinkish-red, and often smell musty or grassy.
People who come in contact with visible blue-green algae or who ingest water containing blue-green algae may experience skin irritation, rash, sore throat, sore red eyes, swollen lips, fever, nausea and vomiting and/or diarrhea. Symptoms usually appear within one to three hours and resolve in one to two days.
Weather and wind conditions can cause algae blooms to move from one location in the lake to another. As such, the advisories will remain in effect until further notice.
Blue-green algae advisories also remain in place for Moose Lake, Stoney Lake, and Vincent Lake, along with a list of other lakes throughout Alberta. A complete list of advisories is available on the AHS website.
