http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070714.ALGAE14/TPStory/National

Blue-green algae reported in dozens of Quebec lakes
Boiling doesn't remove problem, so thousands of residents drinking bottled water

TU THANH HA

July 14, 2007

MONTREAL -- In Cowansville, a city southeast of Montreal, about 13,000 residents lined up yesterday for bottled water after being told they couldn't drink from their taps.

At the Saint-Benoît-du-Lac Abbey, the stately monastery overlooking Lake Memphremagog, the monks have to truck in water to make their famous cheeses.

The spread of blue-green algae in Quebec has triggered widespread headaches this summer as the toxic pond scum has been reported in dozens of lakes.

Scientists caution that there has not been a vertiginous increase in the algae.

They say the higher number of reported outbreaks reflect an increased vigilance, not a catastrophic surge.

Nevertheless, those researchers say the algae is a long-existent environmental problem linked to runoff from farming, septic tanks and cottages.

"It's a wakeup call," said Yves Prairie, a specialist in inland water at the University of Quebec in Montreal.

While it's labelled an algae outbreak, the problem is caused by a micro-organism, cyanobacteria, which thrives in slow-moving water, especially water rich in nutrients such as phosphates from dishwashing detergents and fertilizers.

The Quebec Health Department says 55 lakes and rivers are affected, although 49 have only localized outbreaks. In the Eastern Townships cottage country, the algae has hit parts of Lake Memphremagog, a source of water for thousands of people.

Richard Carignan, a biology professor at the University of Montreal, said such a scorecard is misleading.

"You can spot blue algae in every lake. It's their concentration in some lakes that's a real problem."

Prof. Prairie said some places, such as the Quebec end of Lake Champlain - which runs down into New York State and Vermont - are chronically infested.

Others, such as Lake Memphremagog, are not rich in algae nutrients so the outbreak there is likely to be temporary and contained, he said.

Both scientists said many of the 55 lakes on the government list are not facing chronic problems.

"Half the lakes on that list shouldn't be there," Prof. Carignan said.

Still, the scare has had an impact on small towns that rely on summer tourism.

"We've got a lot of worried people here," said Raymond Mallette, a campground owner in Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal.

While his campground hasn't been hit, reservations have suffered because one of the two municipal beaches has been affected intermittently by blue algae on Lake Maskinongé.

Bathing and aquatic sports are also banned on a seven-kilometre stretch of the lake's feeder river.

Mr. Mallette, who is also the head of the Chamber of Commerce, said merchants, from the local supermarket to restaurants and the realtors, have all suffered, reporting a drop in revenues of 10 to 80 per cent.

A previous algae outbreak in 2004 resulted in a decline in property values of 15 to 20 per cent, he said.

The algae problem is more acute in Quebec because cottagers here are more likely to have waterfront lawns, which leach fertilizers into the water, Prof. Carignan said.

Quebec's thriving hog farms, which use liquid manure, are also a major cause of runoff, Prof. Prairie said.

Because the water is fouled by a toxin stored in the algae's cells, boiling does not remove the problem.

That is why the people of Cowansville have to drink bottled water for at least two weeks until test results are satisfactory.

The Great Lakes were badly tainted by blue algae until 1972, when Canada and the United States banned the used of phosphates in laundry detergent.

That ban didn't apply to detergents for automatic dishwashers, of which there were few at the time, Prof. Carignan said. Now, cottagers increasingly have dishwashers.

While detergents for those machines contribute only a fraction of the phosphate runoffs (most comes from fertilizers), their impact is felt in resort areas that have been hit by algae even though there is little farming around.

"You can't have shiny dishes and healthy lakes at the same time," Prof. Carignan said. "You can't change farming systems overnight but what you can do overnight is stop using dishwashing detergents with phosphates."

Mr. Mallette said it is impossible to guarantee that an area won't be hit by the algae.

"There are no more assurances that the beaches will be open any more than there are assurances you won't get a hurricane next time you're in Mexico."