Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID WY_2023_63_Collins

Evaluating Toxicity of Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms in Wyoming Lakes and Reservoirs

Institute: Wyoming
Year Established: 2023 Start Date: 2023-07-01 End Date: 2026-06-30
Total Federal Funds: $15,019 Total Non-Federal Funds: $30,232

Principal Investigators: Sarah Collins

Project Summary: Harmful cyanobacterial blooms (HCBs), also known as harmful algal blooms, in Wyoming lakes pose a health risk to humans, domestic animals and wildlife. To address this risk, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ), Wyoming Department of Health, and other cooperators have developed a strategy to notify the public should a bloom or elevated toxins occur in publicly accessible waterbodies in Wyoming. WDEQ has increased the frequency of toxin monitoring recently to understand which blooms pose the greatest health risk to people and animals. Despite these efforts, Wyoming’s HCB program needs additional information about when and where health risk to humans and animals are highest, effective testing methods for cyanotoxins, and the potential linkage between nutrient pollution and toxin production. In this project, we one graduate student and several undergraduate technicians will examine drivers of HCB-associated toxicity and to develop methods for the most effective way of monitoring toxins.