Toxic algae fears in Niapenco close Binbrook reservoir
Dozens of fish wash ashore on lake; NPCA closes body of water to fishing, swimming and boating
Lake Niapenco is off-limits for swimming, boating and fishing after the discovery of potentially toxic algae as well as dozens of dead carp washing up on shore.
Public health officials said this is the first time the lake has been closed due to blue-green algae since the city began testing for the toxic Cyanobacteria in 2012.
“It’s certainly rare,” said Michael Reles, spokesperson for the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, who added experts speculate high rainfall amounts earlier this year may have pushed more run-off — and therefore more nutrients — into the lake.
Until Hamilton’s public health department declares the water safe for use, no swimming, water sports or fishing will be allowed on the lake, he said. Visitors can still picnic, use on-land facilities and a new splash pad fed with treated water. Cyanobacteria, known as blue-green algae, loves hot weather and extra nutrients often found in fertilizer and sewage. The potentially toxic blooms are common in Hamilton Harbour in late summer but “more surprising” in the rural reservoir near the headwaters of the Welland River, said Reles.
At the same time, boaters have reported dead fish floating in the lake. Tim Crane said he was canoeing the lake on the weekend to do some fishing and saw “dozens” of carp washed up on shore and floating elsewhere in the lake. “I have fished Niapenco for years and never seen anything of the sort,” he said.
Reles said the conservation authority is looking into why the fish death may have occurred and hasn’t ruled out the presence of algae blooms, which can “starve” the human-made lake of oxygen.
Luckily, no other species in the popular fishing lake have been reported dying en masse other than the invasive carp, he said. The NPCA, responsible for the watershed that feeds the Welland River, holds popular fishing derbies each year at the reservoir — but the next one isn’t until February.