CHIMACUM — Water quality test results show Anderson Lake is low in deadly toxin concentrations, Jefferson County’s environmental specialist said Friday, and he expects word from state parks officials no later than Tuesday about whether the lake will reopen for the fishing season Saturday.
“No blue-green algae showed up in the samples,” Greg Thomason, Jefferson County environmental health specialist, said Friday afternoon after receiving results of water samples taken Monday at the lake.
“This is the clearest I’ve seen it this late.”
That means an announcement could be forthcoming that the lake will open for fishing season.
Thomason said the lack of algae bloom in Anderson Lake, a popular 70-acre fishing hole between Chimacum and Port Hadlock, may be because of cloudy conditions. He said he has been monitoring the lake since April 4.
But that could change with a few sunny, windless days, he said, because warmer, sunny days tend to aid in the incubation of algael blooms that carry toxins including mycrosystin and anatoxin-a.
Ultimately, he said, Anderson Lake State Park’s manager, Mike Zimmerman, will make the call on whether the lake will open for fishing season.
“If we see a bloom as late as Friday, we will have to recommend closing it” just prior to fishing season opening, Thomason said.
“We’re going to watch it every day next week, and each day we will be updating” lake conditions, he said.
The history of Anderson Lake shows that an early, mid- and late summer bloom is likely, public health officials said.
Toxins created by blue-green algae, which are dangerous for both people and animals, have plagued the popular trout-fishing lake since May 2006, when two dogs died after drinking water, and the lake was closed.
In April 2010, Anderson Lake was opened for fishing for the first time since 2008 but was closed three weeks later when toxin levels shot up as the weather warmed and encouraged the algae growth.
Can damage liver
High concentrations of toxins from blue-green algae can damage the liver or the neurological system.
Jefferson County Public Health has been collecting and submitting water quality and algae samples from Lake Leland, Anderson Lake and Gibbs Lake since 2006.
Typically, if a bloom is observed, a sample will be taken and submitted to King County Environmental labs for testing, officials said.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
