Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID AR_2023_Haggard

Why and When does Microcystin Exceed Recreational Guidelines at Lake Fayetteville?

Institute: Arkansas
Year Established: 2023 Start Date: 2023-09-01 End Date: 2024-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $15,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $15,000

Principal Investigators: Brian Haggard

Project Summary: Harmful algal blooms can produce toxins, like microcystin. The potential causes for microcystin production include nutrients, the amount of algae, the type of algae, and physical factors like water temperature or recent precipitation. But why and when algal blooms produce toxins is not well understood, or how factors interact to increase algal bloom risk. The project objective is to monitor a small, shallow recreational lake for microcystin concentration and risk factors at high frequency over multiple years. The project began in 2019. Initial data analysis has shown that the top risk factors for microcystin detection vary over time. Common risk factors emerging are high water temperature, low dissolved nitrogen concentrations, high algal biomass, especially cyanobacteria. The variability in findings between years and seasons shows the need for continued data collection if we want to recognize patterns across longer time ranges.