Pace of blue-green algae blooms in Alberta lakes so far 'a little bit concerning,' researcher says

Edmonton resident Jill Hunter was surprised to find visible blooms of blue-green algae along the shore when she arrived at Astotin Lake, Alta., in Elk Island National Park Wednesday. 

"This seems really early," Hunter said, after canoeing at the popular swimming and recreation area located about 60 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. 

Rolf Vinebrooke, a professor of fresh water ecology at the University of Alberta, agrees. 

He said the number of new health alerts is coming at a pace that's "a little bit concerning."

There are currently 13 blue-green algae advisories in place for Alberta lakes. Nine were issued within the last 10 days.

"Since we're not even into July, right? And it's feeling like the blue-green algae are kind of already thriving as they would normally later in the summer," Vinebrooke said. 

Blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, need the same sorts of resources plants or crops do, and tend to thrive at higher temperatures, he said. 

Vinebrooke added that recent precipitation has likely contributed to the growth of blue-green algae, with the rain carrying nutrients from the landscape into the waterways. 

"So we're kind of getting a combination of ideal growing conditions so far with how this summer kind of progressed and sunlight is going quite well right now with the haze and the wildfires kind of diminishing," he said. 

Alberta Health Services says people and pets should avoid all contact with water where a blue-green algae advisory is in place. It can make people sick, and can be lethal to pets. 

Vinebrooke said it's too early to tell if this summer's blue-green algae levels will be higher than previous years, and analysis has not shown a clear trend. 

"Other than it seems to be that there's much more variability across years, like one year will be really bad, the next year won't be that bad at all," he said. "So it's a very difficult thing to predict right now."

AHS currently has advisories in place for the following lakes: 

Coming in contact with the algae can cause skin irritation, sore throats and eyes. If ingested, symptoms include fever, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.