Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Dec. 8, 2022, to offer Algae Control Canada an opportunity to speak to the issues discussed. Lakeland Today would like to apologize to Algae Control Canada for not providing the company with an opportunity to comment in advance on issues reported in the following story.
BONNYVILLE – In the last few months, Moose Lake has had a lot of public attention from the MD of Bonnyville’s council, private companies, local stewardship groups and residents who want to see a cleaner lake and a healthier environment.
With so many groups having invested interest in Moose Lake’s water quality over the span of many years, “continuity and context gets lost,” says Kellie Nichiporik, the chair of the Moose Lake Watershed Society.
After Lakeland This Week published the article ‘MD reaches out to Environment Minister about Moose Lake algae problem’ on March 29, 2022, Nichiporik reached out to Lakeland This Week to discuss some of the information.
In January of this year, representatives from HAB aquatic solutions and Algae Control Canada sought support from the MD of Bonnyville council for a Canadian-first pilot project that would involve the use an Aluminum Sulfate compound (Alum) to treat Moose Lake’s reoccurring blue-green algae blooms.
The recommendation by Algae Control Canada was based on information collected from a Phosphorus Budget test and core samples taken from Moose Lake.
The Phosphorous Budget was a decision that resulted from the 2007 Moose Lake Watershed Management Plan and was spearheaded by the Moose Lake Watershed Society, according to Nichiporik.
She indicates that the specific studies had been discussed by the Moose Lake Watershed Society and other community stakeholders for the last 10 years.
Studying Moose Lake
“Moose Lake Watershed Society has done a lot of work over the years. Our primary focus is lake stewardship and education,” she says, noting that the watershed society has found grant funding for most studies and projects carried out on the lake since the early 2000s.
Some of these tests have included annual tributary monitoring that began in 2014, inter-basin sampling at Franchere Bay, Bonnyville Bay, Vezeau and Pelican Narrows, as well as a Nutrient Budget study.
In the future, the watershed society hopes to acquire grant funding to conduct a DNA analysis of fecal coliforms in the lake to find the root cause of beach closures implemented by Alberta Health Services due to high levels of fecal matter in the water.
Without a DNA test it is unclear if fecal matter is related to livestock, septic tank leakage or birds, she says, making it difficult to stop fecal matter from entering Moose Lake.
“It's fair to say that we all want better water quality, what that water quality looks like still has to be within the natural reality of what the lake is going to be naturally occurring as,” says Nichiporik.
"Yes, we would all like to see less algae... Cyanobacteria is dangerous for everybody. It’s dangerous to swim in. It’s dangerous for your pets to go into. It's dangerous for wildlife to drink out of. So, it's fair to say that yes, we'd like a reduction in blue-green algae. Whether that is an actual treatment of it, or do we look at it holistically and say, ‘We need better watershed stewardship in general?’”
Treating algae on Moose Lake
When it comes to the proposed Alum application treatment of Moose Lake, the Moose Lake Watershed Society has not taken a stance so far. However, there remain many questions, says Nichiporik.
“There is lots of research done in the (United) States about it. There are also some in Europe, but the different sediment types and stuff like that doesn't really translate well to our lakes,” she says.
“It's really hard to compare lakes because each lake is very individual, just like people. Even if you had the same size volume of lake, it doesn't necessarily translate to the same amount of watershed area. Your drainage basins are different, the land uses are different, even just sediments are way different. Everything is very unique."
Where most major watersheds in the province are glacier fed, the Beaver River Watershed is unique in that it is not.
“It actually starts in Beaver Lake. So, the headwaters are heavily impacted by land use as it is muskeg fed, or wetland fed – that's a big difference,” says Nichiporik.
Studies have found that Moose Lake has been a eutrophic lake for a very long time.
“It is very nutrient rich; it has a lot of life in it... While you have a lot more nutrients, you have a lot more plant growth, you have more fish – it is a very productive lake.”
And while Alum has been recommended through Alberta Agriculture to be used as a dug-out treatment, Nichiporik states that has a far different implication of how it is intended to be used at Moose Lake.
"If you think about how it's being used as a dug-out treatment, it is used almost like a sterilant. So, it's killing everything in the water. So, do you want that to actually happen to the lake?” she questions. “Probably not.”
According to Nichiporik, in high pH situations Alum can become fairly toxic. “Especially to any invertebrates and any aquatic life. Looking at the research of Moose Lake, Moose Lake does have a very high pH.”
Before any algae treatment is approved by Alberta Environment and Parks, there are set regulatory procedures that would be followed by the province.
“It would have to go through a lot of regulatory approvals, because it's never been done before,” says Nichiporik.
“They also have to go through the Department of Fisheries and Oceans because Moose Lake is fish bearing. So, they would also have to get federal approval as well.”
With more than one company now offering solutions to the MD of Bonnyville to treat the Moose Lake’s algae, the chair of the watershed says the whole situation has become “fairly abnormal.”
What Nichiporik and the Moose Lake Watershed Society hope people take away from this, is “that this is a really complex issue. There's a lot of science that has been done, but there is still a lot of science that is still required.”
Fundamentally, the best way to “Keep Our Lake Blue” is for every resident to reduce runoff and pollutants, such as phosphorus, from entering the lake, which is a big driver of blue-green algae, says Nichiporik.
The Moose Lake Watershed Society encourages all residents to participate in the Keep Our Lake Blue Campaign and to commit to at least one of 52 actions that can help protect the water quality of the region's lakes and watershed.
Algae Control Canada
ACC spokesperson and managing partner Raymond Menard says ACC was approached by the MD of Bonnyville as early as Nov. 28, 2018, for advice and options regarding how to best improve the health of Moose Lake.
After months of consultation and a review of the available data, Dr. John Holz presented to the MD of Bonnyville Council on Feb. 20, 2019.
“Dr. Holz discussed internal [phosphorus] loading, why that was a potential cause of the algae blooms in Moose Lake and what steps needed to be taken to determine the solution. A sediment study including [phosphorus] fractionation and [phosphorus] flux analyses was recommended to be followed by a [phosphorus] budget to be done by an independent scientist,” says Menard. “Only once those were completed could alum be recommended or discarded as a potential tool for Moose Lake. The same presentation was given at the Moose Lake Watershed Society (MLWS) AGM that evening.”
Algae Control Canada was then contracted by the MD of Bonnyville to complete the Sediment Study and Associated Environmental was hired to complete the Phosphorus Budget Study.
“Algae Control Canada completed the sampling for the Sediment Study in July of 2019 and the results were provided to the MD of Bonnyville in early October 2019. The Sediment Study quantified the amount of phosphorus accumulated in Moose Lake's sediments, what form it was in, and its release rate from the sediments during summer stratification. On Dec. 17, 2019, Dr. Holz presented the results to the MLWS. The same presentation was given to the MD of Bonnyville on Dec. 18, 2019. Dr. Holz reiterated that a [Phosphorus] Budget still needed to be completed by an independent scientist before any final solution being recommended for Moose Lake,” explains Menard.
Over the past three years, ACC has held several stakeholder engagement meetings and presentations speaking to various organizations, bodies and residents in the region and says it has consistently made itself and its experts available to present and engage with any other interested party upon request.
Menard says it only made recommendations for rehabilitation of Moose Lake after the recommended studies were completed, as had been the process agreed upon by ACC and the MD of Bonnyville, at the time.
Speaking to the science, ACC says the recommendation for Alum application on Moose Lake is scientifically supported and there is significant scientific evidence to confirm that it would be an effective method to inactivate the phosphorous driving the algae blooms.
Several more studies are recommended to be done prior to an Alum application to ensure the appropriateness of the treatment, according to Menard.
Further, ACC has never said that Alum application is the only option available to the MD of Bonnyville regarding moose Lake, and in fact, indicated that it was one of several methods considered, including aeration and oxygenation, alongside watershed management, according to Menard.
“ACC has always maintained that watershed management is important to the long-term health of Moose Lake,” says Menard.
ACC anticipates it will be presenting a final recommendations report to the MD of Bonnyville council in early 2023.
For more information about the work being done by ACC at Moose Lake, visit https://algaecontrol.ca/mooselake/
