JACKSON, Wyo. — Protect Our Water Jackson Hole (POWJH) is hosting back-to-back events focused on community education and action to address algal blooms, and the science behind this emerging environmental and public health issue.
Across the world, algae is becoming a problem. The Snake River Headwaters in Teton County, WY, and other Intermountain West watersheds are not immune to this trend. Algae, the diverse suite of microscopic photosynthesizers that provide much of the air we breathe, serve as the base of healthy aquatic food webs. However, algae can become problematic when it grows rapidly and forms visible blooms. Algal blooms threaten recreation, tourism, and real estate-based economies, and can pose serious health risks for humans and animals.
Once upon a time, algal blooms were a nuisance reserved for warmer parts of the planet, but over the last few decades, they have spread in geographic range and increased in frequency, intensity, and duration. In our neck of the woods, blooms have become a common occurrence between August and October in Fish Creek, the Snake River, Palisades Reservoir, several alpine lakes on Togwotee Pass, and across a large number of other rivers, creeks, lakes, and reservoirs throughout Wyoming and neighboring states.
So, why is this happening? Simply put – blooms like it hot. The algae that form blooms prefer environments with plenty of light, lots of food (nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus), and warm temperatures. In Teton County, human-induced nutrient pollution, low flows, and warmer water temperatures have created conditions well suited for blooms to occur, turning once pristine cobble riverbeds bright green. While some blooms correspond to nutrient pollution and others are triggered primarily by warmer water, one common thread is that when algae bloom, it indicates an ecosystem is out of balance. In some instances, cyanobacteria (a large, varied group of photosynthetic bacteria that emerged over three billion years ago) can dominate blooms and release various toxins which can cause severe liver, digestive, or neurological problems – and can be fatal to pets, livestock, and wildlife.
While cyanobacteria blooms are not yet a primary concern in Teton County, it is clear that our community needs to better understand, manage, and mitigate the spread of more algal blooms across our irreplaceable water resources. However, we are not alone. Our neighbors in Big Sky, MT have been working to alleviate recurring blooms and restore the Gallatin River, a nationally treasured fishery, to a healthy condition.
POWJH will host a presentation this Wednesday, August 7th from 5:30–6:30 p.m. at Teton County Library by Dr. Kristin Gardner, Chief Executive and Science Officer for the Gallatin River Task Force. For nearly two decades, Dr. Gardner has helped lead the Big Sky community toward lasting solutions to their algal bloom problems. In the last few years, their small unincorporated community has taken meaningful steps to control nutrient pollution and do whatever is possible to support the Gallatin River, one of the most important economic drivers in the area. By learning more about the challenges faced and victories won, we in Teton County, WY can make important decisions to restore and protect the water bodies that allow our unique, beautiful valley to sustain our health, environment, and economy. This event is funded by a grant from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole.
The following day, Thursday, August 8th, POWJH will host an Algal Bloom Awareness event at Russ Garaman Park from 5:00–8:00 p.m. The event will feature interactive science-based displays and demonstrations, contents and prizes, free swag giveaways, and share important public safety recreation guidelines and opportunities for invaluable citizen science participation. If you’d like to learn more about the science behind this fascinating and increasingly relevant issue, this event is for you. We’ll dive deeper into the factors behind bloom formation, learn how to recognize different kinds of algal blooms, explore toxicity and other potentially harmful impacts of blooms, and even check out some of our local algae under a microscope! Short presentations from Matt Bambach, POWJH Water Resources Program Manager, and Dr. Gardner will begin around 6:15 p.m. This event is funded by a POWJH EPA Environmental Education grant.
Please join POWJH this week to learn more! Together, we can learn from our neighbors, make difficult but necessary decisions to minimize our community’s negative environmental impacts and contribute to meaningful research that protects the health of our loved ones.
To stay engaged about our water quality issues visit: POWJH.ORG.
