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PHOTO: North Pond, near the Smithfield Village shoreline, shows a the green tint of an algae bloom in late July. The bloom is dissipating, but may last until the end of August. (7 Lakes Alliance photo)
BELGRADE – The most recent clarity test on North Pond shows an improvement to 7 feet, up from 4 feet in late July. Frequent clarity tests were being taken by 7 Lakes Alliance and the North Pond Association so the public could be made aware about the safety of swimming in the pond.
7 Lakes Lakes Science Director Danielle Wain cautioned that North Pond is “not out of the woods yet,” noting the water is still green and phosphorus levels are high. Phosphorus is the nutrient that supports algal growth.
Toxin tests conducted Aug. 1 at shoreline sites in Smithfield and Rome show no traces of the algal toxin microcystin, which is the toxin most likely to be found in Maine lakes. North Pond is bordered by Smithfield, Rome and Mercer.
Wain said the bloom may dissipate in late August, depending on weather conditions, including how much the weather cools.
With clarity of 3.3 feet or less, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection recommends people don’t go in the water. A general rule. DEP says that if swimmers can’t see their feet in four or five feet of water the water isn’t safe for swimming – for humans or pets.
The DEP also recommends that humans and pets clean off with soap and fresh water if they come in contact with a bloom. Showers using lake water during a bloom should be brief. Pets are particularly susceptible to dying from a harmful algal bloom because they’re more likely to drink from a lake with one. They can also swallow toxins on their fur while grooming themselves.
Blooms are caused by erosion, which carries phosphorus into streams and lakes, frequently made worse by development, such as camps, gravel roads and driveways. Shallower lakes are more likely to have algae blooms, and the nature of a lake’s sediment also plays a part.
7 Lakes Alliance and the North Pond Association are crafting a watershed-based management plan that will identify sources of phosphorus and offer recommendations to mitigate erosion and phosphorus in North Pond. Similar studies were recently completed on Great Pond and Long Pond, and were conducted on East Pond before its alum treatment in 2018.
7 Lakes’ science team, led by Wain and Whitney King of Colby College, test water quality in all seven Belgrade Lakes region lakes year-round. Along with tracking water quality trends, that data, combined with management plans, helps determine the how water quality can be preserved and restored.
“Algal blooms and the threat of blooms are an ongoing concern throughout the Belgrade Lakes watershed,” 7 Lakes President and CEO Laura Rose Day said. “That is why we and our partners must remain vigilant on efforts to minimize erosion, conserve land and educate people on how they can be part of the solutions.”
For updates, visit 7lakesalliance.org, or 7 Lakes’ Facebook and Instagram pages.
