Blue-Green Algae Removed From Lake Hefner news9.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news9.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Lake Hefner is a popular spot to get outdoors, but something lurking in the water could make you sick. If you re on the shoreline and you see the algae that looks like pea-green soup, it s bluish-green kind of color, it may have an oily sheen on top of it, that s going to identify the blue-green algae to you, said Leigh Ann Kitsmiller, laboratory manager for the City of Oklahoma City.Blue-green algae have been identified on the southwest side of the lake. Kitsmiller told KOCO 5 the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality was notified immediately and the area was treated. They treated the southeastern, southwestern side of Lake Hefner on Monday, she said. In this particular case, Kitsmiller said the blue-green algae bloomed because of rainfall and nutrients from the Canadian River that flows into the lake. Lake Hefner is one of Oklahoma City s seven drinking water reservoirs, but officials said the water is OK to drink. By the time it goes through the treatment process, th
By: Erica Rankin
OKLAHOMA CITY -
Oklahoma City officials were notified Monday morning of possible blue-green algae in Lake Hefner on the lake’s south side.
When the water was tested it came back as blue-green algae, something they haven’t seen in the lake for quite some time.
We had a big algae bloom back in 2011,” said Leigh Ann Kitsmiller, the city’s lab manager for the water quality department. ”So, 10 years ago, that is the last big one we had. We haven t seen this kind of algae in numerous years.”
City officials will have finished treating the lake by the end of the day Monday, but Kitsmiller said there is no timeline on when the blue-green algae will be all gone due to the unpredictable weather.