Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Jordan Eleniak, a Métis student who grew up in Lac La Biche, doesn't recall a summer without a blue-green algae bloom. He designed a bacterial fuel cell to help communities forecast them. Blue-green algae are also known as cyanobacteria. Blue-green algae blooms are a natural phenomenon, but when they reach excessive levels, they can become toxic to the environment and to aquatic animals.
A team of experts is working to better understand the spread of blue-green algae in Alberta lakes by combining satellite technology with near-simultaneous water sampling. The project, funded through Alberta Innovates, is a collaboration between several groups, including Alberta Lake Management Society (ALMS), the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI), and researcher Rolf Vinebrooke from the University of Alberta.
Two advisories, one for blue-green algae and another for fecal bacteria levels, have now been issued for the waters of Lac La Biche lake in the days leading up to the Canada Day weekend. Alberta Health Services (AHS) officials issued a blue-green algae advisory on Thursday, warning that areas of the lake were affected by an outbreak of the naturally-occurring bacteria that can appear on the surface as a green, blue, pink or brown-tinged "scum" or "glob". Human contact with blue-green algae can cause irritation to skin and the eyes. It can also cause nausea and diarrhea. The symptoms are more prominent in children, and can appear within a few hours of water contact. Ingestion of water with the bacteria can be fatal to pets.
Edmonton resident Jill Hunter was surprised to find visible blooms of blue-green algae along the shore when she arrived at Astotin Lake in Elk Island National Park on Wednesday. "This seems really early," Hunter said, after canoeing at the popular swimming and recreation area 60 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. Rolf Vinebrooke, a professor of fresh water ecology at the University of Alberta, agrees.
Blue-green algae blooms in parts of Lake of the Woods can change the appearance of the water and these blooms have the potential to cause some harm to pets or people who choose to take a drink or a swim. Blue-green algae blooms are common in parts of the lake, which straddles Ontario, Manitoba and Minnesota. However, they are generally not seen late in the year or in some of the locations they are now being found. As well, the blooms can be toxic.
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit is warning people to avoid the water at Shelter Bay on Lower Shebandowan Lake after tests confirmed the presence of blue-green algae. The health unit said some blue-green algae blooms produce toxins that pose health risks to people and animals, and the water at Shelter Bay should be avoided while the bloom is present, and for about two weeks after it dissipates.
The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation is expanding its water system to deliver clean drinking water to hundreds of residents who have been grappling for more than a decade with seven drinking water advisories. The Bay of Quinte is on Lake Ontario and the First Nation is not remote or isolated. It’s just off Ontario’s Highway 401, between Toronto and Montreal. Chief R. Donald Maracle said his community has suffered from a lack of safe water since 2008, due to fecal, bacterial and algae contaminations. A regional drought made many groundwater wells go completely dry in 2017.
