Warning in the water

This month, Martin County's environmental health director said, "It's just good common sense to avoid algae blooms." Bob Washam aimed his warning at individuals concerned about blue-green algae in the St. Lucie River. With new reports that the algae there and in the West Palm Beach Canal have turned toxic, it's appropriate to make sure that public officials whose policies can affect algae growth also do all they can to avoid algae blooms.

Even algae that isn't toxic can kill fish by depleting oxygen in the water. When toxins develop in the algae, they can cause symptoms similar to hay fever or, in extreme cases, cause liver failure. Health officials admit that they don't sufficiently understand the risks. But when the algae showed up earlier this summer, officials seemed less intent on protecting the public and the waterways and more eager to downplay any threats. State and county agencies were slow to test for toxicity and investigate possible sources of pollutants that might have added to the algae blooms.

There are even bigger policy issues involved, the most important among them being the vast amount of water dumped for flood-control reasons from Lake Okeechobee along the canals and out the St. Lucie estuary. The fresh water taints brackish breeding grounds. It's worse this year because the hurricanes of 2004 dredged up pollutants, including phosphorus that feeds the algae. Obviously, weather is hard to predict, but the South Florida Water Management District ignored requests to dump water earlier, which could have prevented the massive, damaging releases of the past few weeks.

Government must react more quickly and thoroughly when waterways turn green with algae. Algae might make people sick. The appearance of algae, especially in toxic form, is evidence that the environment already is.