Grand Lake St. Marys Algae Bloom

I had heard earlier in the season that Grand Lake St. Marys was experiencing an algae bloom. One of the guys at work had bought a camper and was thinking of parking it there but had not because of the algae bloom.

I had heard of algae blooms at lakes in Kansas but didn't realize it could shut down a fishery. I just read in the Dayton Daily news that the Ohio EPA has banned all human contact with the lake water poisoned by the toxin-spewing cyanobacteria, a blue green algae. The Ohio EPA has banned swimming, boating or eating fish from the lake.

The reports that I am reading say runoff from the entire watershed is causing the problem. A key culprit is the winter application of manure on frozen ground that washes out with snow melt.

They are estimating that it could take decades to restore the lake to its natural state. If they could reduce nitrogen and phosphorous from entering the lake now, in 10 years it could be a nicer place.

From reports at work, the smell is horrible around the lake.

I had finished in 4th place at the FLW BFL tournament there earlier this year and at that time it was a wonderful lake. A lot of the lake is set up for tourism. I hate to see any of our public waterways hurting like this.