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Stories focused on energy & environment topics throughout the state of Kansas.

Kansas Getting $2.9 Million To Help Fight Algae Blooms In Milford Lake

ARVIN G. BOYER / KANSAS CITY DISTRICT U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
Kyle Ruona, a park ranger from Perry Lake, takes a water sample during blue-green algae training at Milford Lake on July 9, 2014.

The Kansas Water Office has received more than $2.5 million from the federal government to help fight harmful algae blooms in the state's largest lake. 

Blue-green algae is a normal part of many lakes, but if it reproduces too much, it can turn a lake toxic. Health officials detected the first large harmful algae bloom on Milford Lake, near Manhattan, in 2011, and have continued to see the problem come back every year since.

Earl Lewis of the Kansas Water Office says the main cause of the outbreaks is an increase in the amount of phosphorus rich runoff coming from farms and fields. He says the additional funding from the National Resources Conservation Service will help officials better target their efforts to reduce it.

“It’s a lot of on farm practices that producers can use to try and change the way that that runoff happens or doesn’t from their fields,” he says.

The project is a collaboration between 28 public and private organizations with ties to the lake and the resources it provides.

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Brian Grimmett is an energy and environment reporter for KMUW’s Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KMUW, Kansas Public Radio, KCUR and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. Follow him on Twitter @briangrimmett.

Brian Grimmett is a two-time Regional Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist covering energy and environment stories across the state of Kansas.