Wright State University-Lake Campus Biology Professor Dr. Stephen Jacquemin provided a water quality update at the May 2026 LIA meeting. Key facts, video, and PowerPoint below.
Why Are We Seeing Elevated Algae and Toxins Now?
Exact mechanisms are challenging to disentangle at a watershed scale. However, these primary GLSM drivers of algae biomass and toxicity have been unique this year:
- High precipitation but low runoff volumes thus far
- Massive summer/fall droughts over the past 3+ years
- Winter (25-26) had extreme cold AND warm periods that bounced back and forth
- Algal biomass this Winter didn’t crash or even stay low for usual periods seen in other winters
- High starting spring algal biomass
- Long term challenges with nitrate-N nutrient concentrations (seeing those elsewhere in Ohio too)
- A couple of weeks ago, we saw a fairly large spike in algal toxin – 66 micrograms per liter, naturally prompting questions of “why”
- It has since come back down to just over 20 micrograms per liter
- Grand Lake is a big system with many factors at play, but there is optimism that numbers will stay low
Video
PowerPoint