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State Announces Algal Bloom Monitoring and Advisory Levels for 2011
The State of Ohio is announcing its response strategy for harmful algal blooms in 2011. The strategy includes thresholds for algal toxins, three recreational use advisory levels, and drinking water public notice requirements.
There are three recreational use advisories:
2) The public health advisory would be posted when tests conclude microcystin levels are at least six parts per billion (ppb). At this point, the public would be advised that swimming and wading are not recommended, water should not be swallowed and surface scum should be avoided.
3) A no contact advisory would recommend the public to avoid all contact with the water at that location. A no contact advisory would be posted if test results show microcystin levels at least 20 ppb and there has been a report of human illness or pet death. If a no contact advisory is posted for a recreational contact area, the State may sample the lake to determine if an open water no contact advisory should be posted. Boating and fishing would not be impacted by a no contact advisory.
(Click photo to read article)
Lakewood High School Students Perform Tests at Cranberry Bog
Buckeye Lake Continues To Make Progress 
Grand Lake St. Marys – For now, toxic-algae-warning signs gone from shore at Grand Lake St. Marys
The Columbus Dispatch – Tuesday, April 6, 2010 2:53 AM – By Spencer Hunt
Signs warning visitors at Grand Lake St. Marys of toxic algae in the water have been taken down. For now.
Officials of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which manages the 13,000-acre lake and state park, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said they took down the signs after wintertime water tests showed low levels of microcystin, a neurotoxin created by the blue-green algae growing in the lake.
They also said the signs, which went up in May, will be reposted if the levels rise with warmer weather.
Natural Resources spokesman Mike Shelton said he expects microcystin to increase.
However, “right now, they are not at levels where they would be a problem,” Shelton said. “If we left the signs up, they would, in fact, be incorrect.”
Anthony Sasson, freshwater-conservation coordinator for the Ohio Nature Conservancy, said he expects the warnings will be back, and soon.
“I think the signs may be back in a few weeks,” Sasson said. “This is April, and summertime is only a few months away.”
State officials posted the warning signs last spring after an Ohio EPA water sample showed levels of microcystin four times as high as a “low-risk level” set by the World Health Organization for swimmers and 82 times as high as its standard for drinking water.
The lake has long been considered one of Ohio’s most polluted. Fertilizers and manure from Mercer and Auglaize county farms provide food for the algae.
The microcystin problem surprised state officials. Grand Lake St. Marys was the first inland lake in Ohio where algae posed a health threat. Lake Erie has had toxic algae blooms for several years.
Subsequent tests found lower levels of microcystin in Buckeye Lake in 2009.
Weekly water tests for microcystin levels at Grand Lake St. Marys didn’t drop below the WHO’s swimming standard until Nov. 19.
Dina Pierce, an Ohio EPA spokeswoman, called it “a good assumption” that microcystin warnings could return this summer.
