Last month I wrote about research indicating we have underestimated the effect on creating cyanobacteria blooms made by nutrients, especially phosphorus, lurking in mud at the bottom of lakes. (Here it is, if you’ve forgotten.)
Well, the state is trying to do something about it. They’re going to relese aluminum compounds in a place called Nippo Lake (great name! I wonder where it came from?) “as a lake management “demonstration project.”
The purpose of adding aluminum compounds to Nippo Lake is to reduce by 80% to 90% the amount of phosphorus released from bottom sediments of the lake. Excess phosphorus from the bottom sediments has caused nearly annual harmful algal blooms in Nippo Lake, causing public health and safety concerns, as well as ecological concerns. The treatment will occur in all areas of the lake exceeding 15 feet deep. The total dose of aluminum applied will be 53 grams of aluminum per meter squared.”
More details can be read in a release from the Department of Environmental Services here.
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