Summer 2024 algal bloom coming on strong, at least in this area

So far, it’s not a big threat.

But western Lake Erie’s Summer 2024 algal bloom is off and running as a talking point on social media again.

Photos of pea-green water taken from the Lake Erie shoreline just south of Monroe to Maumee Bay State Park are getting posted and resulting in annual discussions about whether enough is being done to address the problem.

Blooms have occurred on a near-annual basis since the summer of 1995, but got attention throughout the world when the Toledo area’s drinking water system was overwhelmed by an algal toxin the first week of August, 2014. The 10-year anniversary of that landmark event’s first day is Aug. 2.

“Over time, those blooms seem to have started sooner,” Jeff Reutter, retired Ohio Sea Grant and Ohio State University Stone Laboratory director, told The Blade on Monday.

Rick Stumpf, an oceanographer from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has made similar comments, attributing much of the earlier arrival to climate change.

The bloom out in the lake now is about 160 square miles, NOAA said Monday in its weekly bulletin. Although partially obscured by cloud cover, satellite imagery shows an increase within just a few days.

The lake’s main type of harmful algal bloom, a species known as microcystis, can now be seen from outer space extending from Maumee Bay north to southeast Michigan’s Pointe Mouillee State Game Area, and to the south to Magee Marsh Wildlife Area in northwest Ohio. It also can be seen in the open lake past West Sister Island.

A separate bloom continues in Lake Erie’s Sandusky Bay.

Toxins have been detected above the recreational limit. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources posted its warning sign at the Maumee Bay State Park Lake Erie beach last week, urging people to keep themselves and their pets out of the water.

Though too high for comfort in terms of recreational contact, the toxin levels aren’t high enough to pose a threat to area water treatment plants, Mr. Stumpf said.

“Toxin levels have been relatively low in our samples,” he said.

Andy McClure, Collins Park Water Treatment Plant operations commissioner, agreed.

He said data transmitted from buoys in the water show minimal threat for several parameters.

“We're really not seeing anything,” Mr. McClure said.

Mr. Stumpf reiterated that this summer’s bloom is unusual in that it began up along the Michigan coast.

“From early in July, we have seen scum from slightly offshore of Monroe and south on and off,” he said.

Many of the concentrations people see now are a result of microcystis being blown into certain areas by wind, Mr. Stumpf said.

“On the whole, the bloom might not be large yet. But if you have scum on your beach or marina, it's bad for you,” he said.