[Chad]

Speaking of Daryl...

A couple of comments,

First of all, it ain't "moss". Moss grows on trees. Algae grows in the water.

Second of all, "Aquaman" is pretty much right on. Algae blooms this time of year? Yeah whatever, wouldn't even think twice about it.

Keep in mind that all Nebraska waters are relatively fertile. And believe me, that is especially true for farm ponds in agricultural watersheds. When the ice goes out, the water tends to be relatively clear, lots of nutrients, some warming water--Voila, algae bloom.

There are a host of different species of algae. There is some type of algae bloom occurring in our waters pretty much year-round. Some of those types of algae are planktonic (i.e. "floating", drifting in the water) and you may not notice anything more than a discoloration to the water. Other types are filamentous and may bloom into mats or "beds". One species or type of algae will bloom when conditions are favorable and then as it dies back the next species or type will bloom. There is a progression through the year, every year. The algae that bloom this early in the year will likely bloom and then go away as conditions begin to favor some other type of algae.

Algae blooms that cause fish kills usually occur during the warmest water of the year. At that time, especially in waters with high nutrient levels (phosphorous in particular), bluegreen algae tend to dominate and bloom. Bluegreen blooms can be so extensive as to turn the water into "pea-green soup". During the day, when sunlight is available those bluegreen algae will photosynthesize and produce oxygen. In fact oxygen levels during the day may even exceed saturation. But at night those same bluegreen algae respire and use oxygen which can create the oxygen sag which can kill fish. Of course all of that is exacerbated during the summer when water is warm and holds less oxygen. If there is a stretch of cloudy, calm weather during the peak of a summer bluegreen bloom, that also makes things worse.

Some rambling, hopefully that makes sense.

Daryl Bauer
Lakes and Reservoirs Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
daryl.bauer@ngpc.ne.gov

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