Blue-green algae blooms made an early appearance in Brome Lake on July 7, resulting in the closure of Douglass Beach for the day.<\/p>\n
Ana\u00efs Renaud, biologist for Renaissance Lac-Brome (RLB), said that its presence in Brome Lake came after a stormy couple of days in the area, resulting in rainwater runoff increasing the level of phosphorus in the lake. Depending on the forecast for this summer, it may not be the last that Brome Lake sees of the cyanobacteria.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey (blue-green algae) are natural elements in an aquatic ecosystem, but it\u2019s just when we feed them with phosphorus that they can develop, bloom, and turn into scum,\u201d explained Renaud. \u201cThe problem with cyanobacteria (\u2026) is that they can produce toxins and other compounds that are harmful humans and animals. That\u2019s why it\u2019s a problem when they develop in lakes.\u201d<\/p>\n Renaud continued to explain that an increase in phosphorus, which is also a natural element, comes from fertilizer, soils, and boats circulating in shallow waters that measure less than five meters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf we wanted green grass, for example, we put fertilizer and the phosphorus in fertilizers can run off in waters. The problem is that, in Brome Lake for example, there is a history of agriculture and citizens around the lake that do not have the same education that we have now,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, at the time, they didn\u2019t know that they needed vegetated banks, they didn\u2019t know that we should not apply fertilizer directly on the banks, and now the soils are saturated.\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing the scenario of blue-green algae that Brome Lake experienced about a week and a half ago, Renaud noted that the cyanobacteria is making an earlier appearance than usual, often peaking around August or September.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year, what we are experiencing is heavy rains. A few days after the heavy rains, we can see the cyanobacteria coming out. It\u2019s because the heavy rains increase runoff so water does not have enough time to filter through the soil. It brings sediments, dirt, nutrients and other contaminants to streams,\u201d said Renaud.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If the heavy rains trail off throughout the summer, Renaud said that it is likely that Brome Lake will see less algae blooms, but that the situation all depends on the meteorological conditions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf it\u2019s raining or if it\u2019s very dry, if it becomes really hot, in the fall, we can see them developing later than usual,\u201d she noted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Every time RLB is made aware of the presence of blue-green algae in the lake, it monitors the issue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe go on the lake, we measure the surface of the cyanobacteria, what kind of cyanobacteria it is, and we did a report to the Ministry of Environment. Anyone can make that report. If they see blue-green algae scum, they can contact us or directly make a report on the website of the Ministry of Environment\u2019s,\u201d mentioned Renaud.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The non-profit organization, whose mission is to protect Brome Lake and its watershed, also sensitizes people as to how they can play their part.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just people around the lake that need to be careful, it\u2019s everyone in the watershed. People that live on the lake, what you can do is make sure that you have you bank vegetated at 15 meters, do not cut the grass, (\u2026), do not apply any fertilizer or pesticides, make sure you have no runoff going into the lake, make sure you septic installations are tight and not leaking, that\u2019s very very important. We have measurements that tell us that there are medications, soaps, and cosmetics in the lake,\u201d explained Renaud.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To make a report on a sighting of blue-green algae in Brome Lake, contact Renaissance Lac-Brome<\/span><\/a> or\/and Quebec\u2019s Ministry of Environment<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Listen to the full interview below:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Blue-green algae blooms made an early appearance in Brome Lake on July 7, resulting in the closure of Douglass Beach for the day. Ana\u00efs Renaud, biologist for Renaissance Lac-Brome (RLB), said that its presence in Brome Lake came after a stormy couple of days in the area, resulting in rainwater runoff increasing the level of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":106338,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,222,223],"tags":[15273,16882,15275,16879,16881,16878,16880,16883,16884,13835,16519],"radio":[246],"origine":[274,259,260],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106334"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106334"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106347,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106334\/revisions\/106347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106334"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=106334"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=106334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}