Biological Station director reports on state of Flathead Lake
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
News from the Flathead Lakers
YELLOW BAY — Jack Stanford, station director at the Yellow Bay Biological Station, reported that Flathead Lake is in a “very delicate balance” related to nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) inputs. It doesn’t take much additional nitrogen and phosphorus for the bays, or the entire lake, to turn green with algae. That’s why it is so important to prevent runoff polluted with nutrients from reaching the lake, Stanford explained at the Flathead Lakers annual meeting on July 30 at Glacier Camp in Lakeside.
He said a modeling effort underway by the Environmental Protection Agency, using data from the Yellow Bay Biological Station, will provide information useful for better understanding of the nutrient loading process.
Stanford believes the lake will reach the warmest temperature ever recorded this summer. Temperature is key to creating conditions in which algae can thrive.
Yet water clarity remains good this year. The research data show there is currently no trend in primary productivity (the ability of the lake to grow algae,) but nitrogen levels in the lake are increasing, which could foretell problems in the future.
Stanford also discussed the series of changes in the plants and animals living in the lake, called a trophic cascade, caused by Mysis shrimp, which reached the lake in 1981. One result has been a huge increase in numbers of lake trout that jeopardize native bull trout. Stanford said a food web model, using information already available, is needed to better understand the implications of various management scenarios. He is encouraging the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and the Bonneville Power Administration to fund such a model.
“The very worst thing that could happen now is to get some other alien species in the lake,” Stanford said. “I’m really worried about the two mussel species, which would cause another trophic cascade.”
