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UC Davis proposes three-year oxygenation pilot on Clear Lake’s Oaks Arm to curb harmful algal blooms
Summary
UC Davis told the Lake County Board of Supervisors it plans a three-year hypolimnetic oxygenation pilot in the Oaks Arm of Clear Lake to reduce internal phosphorus release driving harmful algal blooms, with EPA funding, an expected CEQA exemption and estimated annual operating costs of about $500,000–$600,000.
UC Davis told the Lake County Board of Supervisors that it plans to deploy a three-year hypolimnetic oxygenation system (HOS) in the Oaks Arm of Clear Lake this summer, as a pilot to reduce internal phosphorus release that the university says drives summertime harmful algal blooms.
The university’s lead presenter, Professor Alex Forrest of UC Davis, told supervisors that monitoring and modeling by UC Davis and USGS indicate roughly 70% of the phosphorus fueling blooms in summer comes from internal loading — phosphorus released from lakebed soils when bottom oxygen is depleted during seasonal stratification. "About 70% of the phosphorus in the lake every summer is coming from this process of what we refer to as internal loading," Forrest said.
Why it matters: Harmful algal blooms have caused fish kills and raised water-quality concerns for water districts and cultural uses around the lake. UC Davis said…
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