Health advisory issued for Lake DeSmet

Health advisory issued for Lake DeSmet
 
BUFFALO (WNE) — Health officials are advising that people and animals avoid portions of Lake DeSmet after discovery of a harmful bacteria.
Last week, the Wyoming Department of Health issued a harmful cyanobacterial bloom advisory for Lake DeSmet based on data provided by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. Under the advisory, health officials caution that people avoid contact with and do not ingest water in the vicinity of the bloom. Boiling, filtration and other treatments will not remove toxins, according to the health department. Fish caught in the vicinity should be rinsed with clean water and only the filet portion should be eaten, health officials say.
Pets or livestock should not drink water near the bloom, eat bloom material or lick fur after contact.
Bloom advisories, according to the health department, are issued for recreational use when cyanobacterial cell densities or cyanotoxin concentrations pose a risk to people or animals who come in contact with water in areas where the blooms
occur. 
Kelsee Hurshman, natural resource analyst with the Wyoming DEQ told the Bulletin that since the department started monitoring for harmful cyanobacterial blooms in 2017, there have not been any reports of the blooms in Lake DeSmet. She said a staff member found the bloom in the reservoir while recreating the first week of December.
On Lake DeSmet, Hurshman said, the blooms are accumulated along the north dam area, as well as along the western shore.