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Riverkeeper warns of rising algae at West Point Lake, highlights 10‑year floating classroom and cleanup work
Summary
Henry Jacobs of Chattahoochee Riverkeepers told Troup County commissioners that algae levels at West Point Lake have risen slowly over the past decade and recently exceeded state limits; he highlighted the group's floating classroom (over 30,000 students) and volunteer trash removals upstream.
Henry Jacobs, deputy director of Chattahoochee Riverkeepers, told the commission that the nonprofit has monitored West Point Lake for a decade and seen a slow but steady increase in algae (chlorophyll a) levels. "The past 2 years, we have seen levels that have just, exceeded, limits set by the state of Georgia," Jacobs said, adding that he expects the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to add West Point Lake to a list for further study.
Jacobs described the group’s education and stewardship work on the lake: a 40‑foot floating classroom that has taken more than 30,000 middle‑school students onto West Point Lake over 10 years, partnerships with local schools and Columbus State University, and volunteer cleanups. "So far this year, we've pulled around 100,000 pounds of trash out of the river upstream of West Point Lake," Jacobs said, and he described a winter partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that removed about two tons of legacy trash from two coves at McGee Bridge Park.
Jacobs urged commissioners to keep the lake on their radar as state review proceeds and said Riverkeepers will encourage prompt state action to identify upstream nutrient sources. He offered to return with updates on long‑term cove‑removal plans and volunteer efforts.
