Blue-green algae back on Lake Winnebago system

LAKE WINNEBAGO -- A potentially harmful nuisance on the Lake Winnebago system is back again. Blue-green algae can cause health problems for both people and animals.

Blue-green algae creates toxins that can cause irritation, vomiting and diarrhea if ingested. In severe cases, it can cause nerve and liver damage.

Health officials say the nutrients from farm and yard runoff, like phosphorus from fertilizers and pesticides helps the algae blossom, eventually forming "mats," allowing the algae to travel long distances, even down the Fox River.

"There's a possibility that as the algae grows, it releases toxins and people get into the toxins, and their animals get into the toxins. I think people tend to forget, year-to-year, that there is a hazard associated with blue-green algae. It's important, for every public health issue, to remind people that it's here," Jeff Phillips with the Winnebago County Health Department said.

Fisherman John Gorski is all too familiar with the organic water hazards.

"Every year it's like that. It depends on the wind. Today it was out of the west, and it's blowing it to the other side of the lake. I think it kind of goes back to the people that utilize the lake for recreation -- that live around the lake. The only way we can ever get a handle on the blue-green algae is really to stop the nutrient flow," Gorski said.

Stopping the nutrient flow caused by runoff will require the cooperation of landowners.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says it is making an effort to reduce the number of algae blooms each year. It is studying how to reduce the amount of nutrients from area runoff coming into the Lake Winnebago system.