Blue-green algae

[TCRanch]

I mentioned in another post that yesterday was my lucky day. That was before I discovered blue-green algae in the watershed. But still lucky because my cattle in the central pasture had moved from the lake a couple days prior and I was able to shut off access. It's rotten not, no rain in sight and the creeks are dangerously low, but they still have a good supply of water from the south pond and fountain at the barn. None of the ponds are affected - yet.

Check your water sources!!!!
https://www.beefmagazine.com/nutrition/be-watchful-toxic-blue-green-algae-stock-ponds

 

[Travlr]

I mentioned in another post that yesterday was my lucky day. That was before I discovered blue-green algae in the watershed. But still lucky because my cattle in the central pasture had moved from the lake a couple days prior and I was able to shut off access. It's rotten not, no rain in sight and the creeks are dangerously low, but they still have a good supply of water from the south pond and fountain at the barn. None of the ponds are affected - yet.

Check your water sources!!!!
https://www.beefmagazine.com/nutrition/be-watchful-toxic-blue-green-algae-stock-pondsView attachment 19171View attachment 19172

Is the pond stocked with any fish? Maybe I should be asking if the pond WAS stocked?

I wonder if algae eating fish would have made a difference?

 

[Ouachita]

Would changing the pH help that?

 

[TCRanch]

Is the pond stocked with any fish? Maybe I should be asking if the pond WAS stocked?

I wonder if algae eating fish would have made a difference?

Fully stocked with primarily crappie and bass but some catfish. There have been a couple gar.

 

[TCRanch]

Would changing the pH help that?

It's a 60 acre watershed. Holds 155+ million gallons at normal capacity and the dam is 48 ft. high. Since it's a watershed lake, we can't do anything - it all has to go through the Watershed Board. Mr. TC just happens to be on the Board, but as a general rule, they won't do anything (like add copper sulfate). At least, they didn't the last time it happened, probably 5 years ago. Not uncommon in Kansas and there are currently a number of large lakes that have been affected. It's almost always just a waiting game for rain, wind & cooler temps. The algae is always there but it has to have just the right conditions to bloom. Kinda like johnsongrass & some of the other potentially toxic forages.

 

[Ouachita]

We can’t use copper sulfate here either. We’re in a protected watershed (some kind of muscle).
I was curious if anyone has had any success managing it with other methods. I see some about altering the pH, and using ultrasound, but don’t know anyone personally using them.

 

[CowboyRam]

Would it be possible to aerate the pond

 

[BFE]

You won't get that at Wilson Lake!

 

[Travlr]

How big is the pond? Could it be raked to remove most of the algae? I've heard of people doing that for other toxic/invasive water plants. Usually followed by some kind of herbicide.

 

[TCRanch]

How big is the pond?

60 acres, 155 million gallons normal capacity. It's a watershed lake - we can't touch it.

 

[TCRanch]

We can’t use copper sulfate here either. We’re in a protected watershed (some kind of muscle).
I was curious if anyone has had any success managing it with other methods. I see some about altering the pH, and using ultrasound, but don’t know anyone personally using them.

"Protected watershed" - nailed it. Ours is the last one constructed in the County. Had another one in the works when the EPA actually showed up to our little community and put the nix on it because of some protected frog. A dang frog!!

 

[TCRanch]

Would it be possible to aerate the pond

The short answer is no.

 

[TCRanch]

The wind picked up and now it's moving, essentially covering the entire south side. Kind of hard to tell, but you can see the almost turquoise color all along the bank. In the first pic, I'm standing on top of the dam (48 ft.) and that's the road that runs along that side. Ponds are still good!

 

[TexasRancher]

60 acres, 155 million gallons normal capacity. It's a watershed lake - we can't touch it.

Even if you could touch it.... that's so big and so many hundreds of millions of gallons it would take at least tens of thousands of dollars or more (hundreds of thousands) for the required chemicals to kill it. The only thing you can do is let nature heal itself with lots of rain and some good cold weather.

 

[TCRanch]

The only thing you can do is let nature heal itself with lots of rain and some good cold weather.

How 'bout cool weather instead of cold? Looks like next week the highs should only be in the 90's and there's a possibility of rain. I'm grasping at straws, here!!!

But I did discover another spring today in one of the creeks. I'll take what I can get!

 

[wbvs58]

"Protected watershed" - nailed it. Ours is the last one constructed in the County. Had another one in the works when the EPA actually showed up to our little community and put the nix on it because of some protected frog. A dang frog!!

I thought frogs liked water.

Ken

 

[wbvs58]

The wind picked up and now it's moving, essentially covering the entire south side. Kind of hard to tell, but you can see the almost turquoise color all along the bank. In the first pic, I'm standing on top of the dam (48 ft.) and that's the road that runs along that side. Ponds are still good!View attachment 19206View attachment 19207View attachment 19208

That's a nice bit of water TC.

Ken

 

[TCRanch]

I thought frogs liked water.

Ken

Evidently, our government is more concerned about disturbing their habitat.:rolleyes:

 

[Dave Clarkson]

I lost 3 yearling steers to blue green algae two years ago. I had them on a friends place to keep it eaten down for the summer. They had fresh water in the trough every day and a great set up. They found an old pond to stand in because it was unusually hot for a week with the temps staying high through the night. It killed three and four survived. I guess because they didnt get in the pond. It is an ugly way to watch something die. We wernt sure for the first two but the vet had come out and said he thought that was what it was. We ended up putting the third one down. He seemed to get better then he started losing his mind like the first two. Very ugly. no one had seen it in our area before.....but I suspect the random dead cow found could have died from that and the owner just didnt know it.

 

[Ebenezer]

How do the cattle drink from the lake? If you can run a pump, put the intake at 5' + deep to avoid the thermocline that the algae is in.