BELLINGHAM — Unusually high levels of algae in Lake Whatcom are clogging filters that bring residents their water supply, city officials say, and residents are being asked to stop watering as much.
If the situation doesn’t change, the city might order mandatory watering restrictions to ensure a reliable water supply. They’re asking that people adhere to a voluntary schedule instituted in June that runs through September.
Hot temperatures over the weekend have the city even more concerned, as they believe more people will be trying to water their lawns.
Water quality standards are still in compliance with state and federal regulations, said Public Works spokeswoman Joy Monjure.
City laboratory staff are trying to figure out what the cause of the increased algae levels are, unsure so far whether the severe January flooding, which sent phosphorous-laden debris into the lake, is the culprit. Algae consumes phosphorous to thrive. The long stretch of warm, dry weather could also have created ideal growing conditions for the algae, city officials say.
Water treatment plant operators must clean algae out of the system’s filters by backwashing with an average of about 500,000 gallons of water per day. On Wednesday, July 22, about 1.7 million gallons of water had to be used, Monjure said.
The minimum the city can keep the lake’s water level is 311.5 feet above sea level and it’s currently at 313.55 feet, said Public Works Director Ted Carlson.
The clogging algae means the city can produce 19.25 million gallons of water per day while they generally produce 21 million to 22 million gallons per day during summer months.
“If people would reduce their demand on the water, we’d be OK,” she said.
VOLUNTARY METERING SCHEDULE
Bellingham officials are asking residents to comply with a voluntary watering schedule while they combat high levels of algae clogging the city’s water treatment plant, preventing enough water getting through the pipes. Without more people helping out, the city may have to create mandatory restrictions if the algae problem continues to pervade.Odd numbered street addresses water only on:
Wednesday, Friday, SundayEven numbered street addresses water only on:
Tuesday, Thursday, and SaturdaysMONDAY
no outdoor watering
Thanks for the heads-up, Sam. I’m a Block Watch Captain and I passed it along to our neighborhood in case anyone missed it.
The algae bloom would be reduced if officials returned to the practice of spilling out more water from the lake on a daily basis and letting in more fresh water.
There is a serious potential Public Health issue involved. Chlorination of high organic content (algae) source water can lead to a by product of higher level of the carcinogens known as Trihaolmethanes (THM) in your tap water. Can you kindly ask Public Works if they have tested for THMs in the tap water recently? How about County Health Dept?
Varieties of that algae are toxic even without chlorination. Say, didn’t the County Council just add a month to the building season in the watershed? Hmm!
No, Tip, they shifted the clearing restrictions by a month on each end. Instead of September to April having a ban on clearing, it’s now October through May. They did this because, they say, there are more adverse impacts to the watershed in May than there are in September.
http://www.whatcomcounty.us/council/meetings/council/packet/ab2009-314.pdf
One thing that I’ve found ironic/disturbing is that, while the city of Bellingham is planning to spend a few hundred million dollars to build roads and infrastructure for the Waterfront, there seems to be no plan/vision to actually solve, for the long term, the issue with decay in quality of our city’s water supply. Does this not seem to be an odd shift in what priorities should be for our city’s planners and governing bodies? Which is more important to the long term health of our city, a new (but not needed?) condo-rich waterfront development, or else an assured source of nice fresh water? To me, if the time, effort, and money spent or planned for the waterfront were instead aimed at this more important issue, our city would be better off.
Well, since the City is having a public hearing before City Council on Monday night regarding the proposed Shoreline Master Program that regulates Lake Whatcom shorelines, this might be a relevant concern to raise at the hearing or in a written letter to Council. After reviewing the SMP, I am concerned that it does not adequately protect the Lake’s shorelines. In the Restoration Plan attached to the SMP, the City notes that “thorough scientific evaluation and prioritization of all restoration opportunities was not feasible for this SMP.” Appendix B, Page 7. In other words, they are still not planning on doing anything.
It is so simple as John Galt points out’: go back to the standard of letting more water out as if FP was still operating to cleanse the lake.
And until someone gets wise, I heard you can use the algae in a blender with other ingredients to get a nutrious magarita.
For the “lake flushing” theorists.
If you diverted the Middle Fork Nooksack Dam into Lake Whatcom you would only need 9 more years to entirely flush out this year’s giant algae globs. Nine years is the turn over rate of the entire lake volume, (with full diversion running). Meanwhile, the phosphorus in the lake will keep growing more algae each year.
More algae = more carcinogens in your tap water. This is not just a “Gee, the filters need some backwashing” problem. Public Health is at risk and no one from the City cares.
The Shoreline Management Plan is a good place to start but more effective actions and money will be needed.
Paxton is right. Flushing the lake does not rid it of phosphorous and there’s already plenty of phosphorous in the lake now to keep algae thriving for a very long time.
This demonstrates why protecting forest land is so important. Clearcut logging and 30+ miles of dirt logging roads dumps phosphorous (it’s in the dirt) into the lake. Old growth forests filter the water & reduce the dirt going into the lake. The water that goes in is cooler. If the lake is cooler, less algae grows.