(Radio Iowa) – The executive director of the Iowa Regents’ Lakeside Lab says they’re seeing an increase in toxic blue-green algae in the Great Lakes. Mary Skopec says after years of drought, the lakes are filled with high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and contaminated sediment. It’s a combination that causes the algae to grow, especially when things warm up.

“It’s very concerning. The lakes are our drinking water source, and we want to make sure that we don’t pull those toxins into our drinking water. But when people are recreating being exposed to that can be quite, quite damaging to health,” Skopec says. There are more than 70 places, where the shorelines have also collapsed, compounding the problem. Skopec says people can still swim in the Iowa Great Lakes but need to watch out for debris and stay away from water that looks green and murky and occasionally bright blue.

Blue Green Algae on West Lake Okoboji. (photo by Sheila Brummer)

“Obviously don’t want people or pets in that water. We know that dogs can succumb to the toxins within hours.” Skopec says the good news is E. coli testing in almost a dozen spots around the Great Lakes showed levels meeting recreation standards.

(reporting by Sheila Brummer, Iowa Public Radio)