Humboldt County’s Environmental Health issued a reminder last week for residents to keep their eyes peeled for algae on rivers and lakes that can produce harmful compounds. Growths of algae generally pick up in late July and August, as water slows down and heats up, situating Humboldt County at the start of the season.“They’re most likely to occur later in the summer when the river flows are low,” said Ben Dolf, a supervising environmental health specialist for Humboldt County.Water warms up to create conditions for algae blooms to be more likely in freshwater, he said, including the harmful kind.Environmental health has so far received three reports of algae this year — and all were determined to be the non-harmful type, said Dolf. Algae in the Mad River was found by the Blue Lake Rancheria to be non-harmful, and the state determined algae at the South Fork of the Eel River and Van Duzen River at Swimmers Delight to contain no harmful species.While these blooms were friendly clusters of photosynthetic organisms, the harmful ones look similar to laypeople. The harmful kind, cyanobacteria (or blue-green algae), can grow in any freshwater, look dark green, black, orange, blue green or brown, can float around, be foamy or in a mat. The harmful algae can produce toxins, tastes and odors with health risks to humans and animals, according to DHHS.Dolf encouraged people to report algae blooms to discover if any harmful toxins are afoot.“If the water doesn’t look clean, if the water looks cloudy or just it doesn’t look pristine, and seems — for lack of a better word — gross, be cautious, avoid it,” advised Dolf, then take photos, send to their office and “we’re happy to help assess whether or not the conditions are safe or harmful.”The North Coast Water Quality Control Board and the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services Environmental Health Division investigate reports of algae, which can be e-mailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 844-729-6466. Blooms can also be reported via the “bloomWatch” app. Photos of suspected blooms can also be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..Read More
