Town Lake Before and Now

Dog Owners Beware

Explaining the toxic algae outbreak

By Nico Torres

In July 2019, the city of Austin received many reports of dogs falling ill. The cause of this illness was a bloom of toxic algae called cyanobacteria, which can cause a myriad of bad symptoms, some of which are lethal, especially for dogs. This was the fi rst of many reports of these algae affecting the local population. Blooms of these algae in the summer have been so consistent, they are now expected and rarely surprise anyone. Dogs have died from it, albeit not too often but sadly, it still happens. This brings us to the main topic of this article, what is going on with the lake? More specifi cally, how has it affected local business and of the lake. According to the CDC, Cyanobacteria is a single-celled organism found in water that produces food with sunlight in nutrient-rich environments. Essentially, the way they can affect the environment is by blocking sunlight for aquatic

Left:A picture of the cyanobateria on the waterAbove:An image of the algae under Above:A picture of the Cyanobacteria under microscope a microscope from wikipedia Credit: Adelaide laboratories, wikipediaLeft: An image of an algae mat on the water.

plants which in turn will affect the food supply of aquatic animals. For us land mammals, it can affect us by making the water toxic and thus making it unsuitable for pets and animals to drink by mistake. It is especially dangerous because you can’t look at the algae and decide whether or not it is in it’s toxic phase so you may confuse it for something else and let your dog drink it or swim in it, which can be equally dangerous. As it turns out, there are countermeasures to ensure dogs don’t get poisoned, for example, signs that warn pedestrians about high levels of algae to remind them to not let their dogs drink any lake water. Another countermeasure is to tell places that rent out recreational water equipment when algae levels are high so that if anyone brings their dog to go paddleboarding or some other activity that involves water, the rental place can tell them that the algae are high and it wouldn’t be safe. Countermeasures aside, people are actively working on cleaning up the algae with the intention of exterminating it with hopes that dogs and pets can someday go back to enjoying the lake. City of Austin

Watershed

Protection Department (CAWP) are putting a chemical called phoslock which binds to phosphorus( a key nutrient for the algae), on boats and spreading it all over the lake,especially places with large clumps. This results in cutting a major nutrient for the algae and ultimately exterminating it.

CAWP’s efforts have already reduced the amount of phosphorus for the algae by 40%, which is huge considering our dogs’ lives are at stake.

With time we could soon go back to letting our dogs swim in the lake and paddleboard with us, which is cute and can provide some very fun memories. However, for now, we must wait. Bringing your dog to the lake is a very common thing as the lake along with the greenery provides a cool refuge from the hot concrete of any modern city. The image to the left is a perfect example of that with a dog park right by the lake where dogs of all backgrounds get to socially interact, run around and overall just expend some of their limitless energy. As for us humans, it allows us to do some everyday interaction and even meet new friends. There are also plenty of great opportunities for Austinites to get outdoors and do something fun. Paddleboarding is the obvious primary candidate but there are many other things near the lake. The trail around the lake being the next biggest thing and if you need a pitstop, a great destination is Alta cafe which has coffee and smoothies and a great view of the lake. There are also a variety of parks and fi elds where you can play sports or

“We are in communication with the Lake people for Austin and we get notifications on bad weather or dam openings or even the algae.”-Alvin Cantu, General manager at paddleboard

just sit down and have a picnic and look at the people walk by. That’s not all, the lake also provides boat rentals for parties and events like that. Another key point to consider is these boat, paddleboard, and kayak rental places are businesses which drive part of the recreational economy in Austin and often bring tourism. Tourism is an industry that provides a lot of revenue to our city, and with the recent plans for city development more funding couldn’t hurt. The lake also provides a sort of natural “heatsink” that draws away heat and cools down surrounding areas. If you

Top: A picture of a dog park by the lake. Bottom: A paddleboard/kayak rental place at dusk.

are unaware, In Texas, temperatures in the summer often reach over 100 degrees so this heatsink can feel like a blessing. It can also, in turn, lower energy consumption of nearby buildings because if air conditioning units works less it results in less energy being drawn from our very strained power grid. An added bonus of this cooling is with less power consumption comes less emissions which cools the earth in the long run. The lake also provides a water source for nearby greenery and “forest” which in turn allows them to continue to thrive in the summer providing these green spots and even more cooling.

The surrounding nature is also a major reason why people enjoy the lake. Having lakes in Austin is great! You can swim, walk, kayak, paddleboard, and so much more. The efforts in place are a good fi rst step but we must do more to preserve and protect this lake. Because if we don’t do anything more to preserve the lake, it might turn into one of those trash lakes that look(and probably smell) horrible, and it would overall be bad for us.Especially, considering thousands of people a day walk around the lake and there are many small businesses around the lake that rely on the lake continuing to be safe and fl ourish for their work to succeed. With all that in mind, I think it is safe to say that people and animals alike enjoy the lake, and they wouldn’t mind if the lake was here to stay. Also on a fi nal side note, the algae blooms have been bolstered by climate change, So, something we could all do is work on emitting less. but By working together to care for our local waters, we could start the path to a cleaner, nicer lake. And who wouldn’t want that?

“It’s very beautiful around downtown Austin, I really enjoy walking around here especially now that the weather is getting a little cooler and you know it’s very nice to be out here and enjoy the Austin fall.”-