Michael Huson The Columbus Dispatch @Mike_Huson

High levels of toxic algae have prompted state officials to post warnings at two Buckeye Lake beaches.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resourcesperformed tests for microcystin, the toxin created by the blue-green algae, after an algae bloom was spotted this month.

Visitors are told to avoid all contact with water when microcystin levels are found to be more than 20 parts per billion.Tests from Fairfield and Crystal beaches at the lake showed levels were at 25 parts per billion, said ODNR spokesman Eric Heis.

The state's safety threshold for swimming is 6 parts per billion. At that level, swimming or wading is not recommended for pregnant or nursing women, children or pets.

Exposure can sicken people and pets, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Swallowing contaminated water can result in kidney toxicity, diarrhea, vomiting and, in some cases, death. Skin contact can result in rashes or hives.

"The goal is just to make the public aware that there could be issues with the water," Heis said."Algal blooms are not just on the surface. Sometimes they are underneaththe water, sometimes they are not visible from the surface."

Toxic blue-green algae are common in most Ohio lakes and grow thick in warm, still water by feeding on phosphorus from manure, sewage and fertilizers that rain washes into waterways.

Cyanobacteria are common in Lake Erie and inland lakes, including Grand Lake St. Marys in western Ohio and Buckeye Lake, which are both surrounded by farm land.

In 2014, Toledo's public water supply was tainted with so much microcystin that officials told nearly 500,000 people in northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan to stop drinking tap water.In 2015, the blue-green algae bloom in Lake Erie stretched from Toledo past Cleveland.

Warning signs also are posted at Grand Lake St. Marys in Celina, which has become the poster child for toxic algae blooms in Ohio.

David Pierce, owner of Weldons Ice Cream Factory at Buckeye Lake, said the advisory has not affected business at his shop.

It doesn't usually impact the whole lake, so it could be just isolated areas," he said."While they test it, and it may range above something that is harmful, it doesnt seem to linger or stay there.

Through November 2016, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency conducted almost twice as many tests for harmful toxins produced by blooms than it in 2015, up from about 3,680 tests to more than 6,340 in the first 10 months of 2016. New rules in effect since June 2016 also require statewide weekly monitoring for toxins and bacteria at public water systems.

The state's safety threshold for swimming is 6 parts per billion. At that level, swimming or wading is not recommended for pregnant or nursing women, children or pets.

Dave Levacy, owner of Buckeye Lake Marina and a Fairfield County commissioner, said he hopes the algae blooms will lessen as crews continue to dredge the lake as part of state project to rebuild the dam there.

"Whenever you have high temperatures, like we had the last week, then that kind of happens," he said of the blooms. "But, in the last few years, I have seen less and less of it."

Merv Bartholow, founding director of Buckeye Lake for Tomorrow, a nonprofit organization that has been studying the lake for 10 years, said despite the recent bloom, the quality of water cominginto the lake has improved over the past 10 years.

"The levels of nutrients, right now, that are coming into the lake are very low, we've been checking it all spring, as well as thewater in thelake itself," he said."The lake is going in the right direction, but the lower levels, the hot weather, and so forth it's just too much."

mhuson@dispatch.com

@Mike_Huson

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State warns of toxic algae at two Buckeye Lake beaches - The Columbus Dispatch