Lake Watery group urges county to back multi‑year algae treatment; outlines costs and partners

At the March 11 Kershaw County Council meeting, representatives of the Lakewatery Association outlined a proposed, multi‑year program to control lyngbia (a filamentous cyanobacteria commonly called Lyngbya) in Lake Watery and described a funding and governance structure that would involve multiple water utilities and regional partners.

Thomas Fort, chairman of Lakewatery Association, said the association has collected water‑quality samples in partnership with the University of South Carolina and volunteers on a “water watch committee.” He told the council the samples give regional regulators higher‑resolution data for modeling and response.

Randy Kelly, chairman of the Lakewatery Association’s water watch committee, described the algae problem in stronger terms. “It’s bad stuff,” Kelly said. “It’s ugly. It’s nasty. It’s potentially toxic, especially to pets if they swim in it and ingest it.” He said the county’s samples showed the presence of lyngbia expanded markedly between a 2021 survey and field work done in 2024, from roughly 19 identified sites in 2021 to dozens of sites found in recent sampling…