Community members that have gone to visit/recreate at Scofield Reservoir may have noticed a bit of change along the shores and possibly a bit of a smell too. Officials from the Health Department and Price River Water Improvement District wanted to inform the community on the early arrival of algae in the reservoir.
Brady Bradford with the Health Department explained, “The first thing to look for are signs on the shore that are a little buildup of scum, a green scum, it almost looks a little bit soapy sometimes but if it’s been on shore and receded it will quickly die and turn into a kind of bright, bright blue and it kind of looks like laundry detergent powder or something like that.” If it’s on top of the water it appears as an iridescent green color.
Algae most of the time is just a normal issue for any body of water, field testing helps to determine if there are toxins visible and what levels they are at. “So we have done some initial tests and the toxin levels came back in a moderately high range. Actually, cyanobateria came back in a moderately high range and that means that they potentially could produce toxins, we don’t have results on that except for field tests at this moment,” explained Bradford. The field tests came back negative for any toxins at this time, further detailed testing will be done later this week.
The appearance of algae makes a yearly appearance at the reservoir but it’s a bit early this year. “We see it every year and it usually doesn’t come to us until the first or second week of August and it stays until the first or second week of September. So this year we see it about three weeks earlier than normal. From a drinking water point of view, we totally expected it and we actually have a way to treat the water for drinking water purposes that is very effective for algae and cyanobateria algae,” stated Jeff Richens with PRWID.
Officials what to reassure the community that what is currently going on at Scofield is nothing in comparison with the situation at Utah Lake. They want to be able to prepare for the worse but are not expecting the worse. “If you noticed that its around and you’re determined to be in that area, for sure don’t let your pets in, pets intend to drink the water as they are swimming in it and it’s a little more harmful for them and young children. Make sure to not get any of that water in your mouth, if you notice on your body wash it with soap and water, but try to reduce splashing or if you are fishing, make sure you clean your fish really well and those clean fish will be alright to eat,” said Richens.
If an individual experiences flu like symptoms after recreating in a body of water it could possibly be from high toxic levels of algae. It is important that you visit your family practitioner and if your pet was in the same body of water he/she may need to visit the vet as well.