LINCOLN — A health alert for harmful algal blooms, also known as toxic blue-green algae, remains in effect for Willow Creek Reservoir in Pierce County.
Also, new alerts have been issued for Calamus Reservoir in Loup and Garfield counties, Johnson Lake in Gosper and Dawson counties and Bluestem Lake in Lancaster County. Rockford Lake in Gage County and Wagon Train Lake in Lancaster County also remain in the health alert.
Visitors to Calamus, Johnson Lake, Bluestem, Willow Creek, Rockford and Wagon Train state recreation areas should avoid full-body contact activities that could lead to swallowing water, such as swimming, wading, skiing, jet skiing, etc. Non-contact activities such as boating, fishing and camping are OK. Dog owners are urged to keep pets out of the water and not allow them to ingest lake water.
Samples taken by the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy on Aug. 17-18 were above the health alert threshold of 8 parts per billion (ppb) of total microcystin, which is a toxin released by certain strains of blue-green algae.
Lakes with beaches and those that allow power boating are tested weekly through the summer, and sampling results are updated every Friday. Health alerts are lifted immediately when algal toxin levels are below 8 ppb. To view weekly data for the lakes sampled, visit deq-iis.ne.gov/zs/bw/.
