PORT TOWNSEND — Water quality lab results this week are expected to determine if toxic-algae-plagued Anderson Lake will open Saturday for the annual state lake fishing season.
“It did look really bad,” Neil Harrington, Jefferson County water quality manager, said of the lake, thick with algae in places, where samples were taken last Thursday.
Harrington said the county Public Health department will consult this Thursday with state parks officials to determine if Anderson Lake, near Chimacum and Discover Bay, is safe to open for fishing.
A decision is expected to be made then.
When is it safe; when is it not?
The most recent tests in mid-March found 60,000 cells per milliliter of anabaena toxin, which can cause brain and liver damage and burn skin.
That level is low enough to be safe for fishing, public health officials say, although the fish should be cleaned, the lake water should not be consumed and children and small pets should stay out of the lake.
Fishing or other recreational uses of the lake, once popular for trout-fishing, will be banned if the count exceeds 100,000 cells per milliliter.
Uses of the land around the lake in Anderson Lake State Park, such as hiking and horseback riding, would be permitted.
When the level of toxins in a lake are at or below the allowable threshold, caution signs are posted asking that fishermen clean fish before eating them and that others avoid water contact, especially where algae is heavily matted.
Anderson Lake State Park and Jefferson County Public Health officials elected to keep the lake closed to recreation last April for the opening of fishing season because of toxins in the water.
Lowland lake fishing season opens statewide on Saturday.
Leland, Gibbs, Sandy Shore
Lake Leland, north of Quilcene, Gibbs Lake in Chimacum and Sandy Shores Lake, which is the headwaters of Thorndyke Creek, could be opened to fishing also if blue-green algae toxins fall below the allowable threshold.
Water samples were taken from those lakes Thursday, Harrington said.
Lake Leland and Gibbs Lake were closed in September after blue-green algae toxin levels soared beyond public safety levels.
Those lakes, as well as Anderson Lake, were posted with red warning signs banning public use.
A red warning sign means that the lake is closed to recreational use, including fishing and swimming.
Thursday’s water quality sampling are taken to a lab and tested for toxins will conclude a year of regular sampling, which Jefferson County Public Health will study to try to determine what is causing increases in toxins year-round.
Although the county health department has sampled lake water since 2006, it received a $42,000 grant from the state Department of Ecology in October 2008 — augmented by some county funds — to fund data collection for the study.
Toxic algae
Blue-green algae is a common fresh-water scum that can, at times — for reasons researchers don’t understand — begin producing toxins that can damage human and animal livers or neurological systems.
The cause of algae blooms is considered to be high amounts of phosphorus — Anderson Lake has more than other East Jefferson County lakes — but the origin of the phosphorus is unknown.
Toxic blue-green algae levels were first discovered in Anderson Lake in May 2006 after two dogs died after drinking water from Anderson Lake. The lake was closed.
No toxic blue-green algae has been reported in Clallam County, where health officers visually monitor lakes for signs of algae bloom.
Jefferson County Public Health toxic blue-green algae reports can be found at http://tinyurl.com/yyg7mlb.
Algae blooms in Clallam County lakes should be reported to Clallam County Department of Health and Human Services environmental health division at 360-417-2258.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
