Algae bloom coats Yellowknife's Jackfish Lake with sludge

It's brown, slimy and invading a section of Yellowknife's Jackfish Lake.

DanielLafond,who has fished the lake for years,first noticed therust-coloured sludge during the spring melt.

"Check out that big piece," he says. "It's like liver."

First noticed in 2013, the N.W.T. Department of Environment and Natural Resources identified itlast yearas blue-green algae.

• WATCHDaniel Lafond sieve some sludge

The department can't say exactly what's causing it to grow, butalgae thrive in warm, nutrient-rich waters.

The Jackfishpower plant, Yellowknife's back-up diesel-fuelled facility,sits at the other end of the lake. It brings in water to cool its diesel generatorsand pumps warm water back into the lake, but Pam Coulter, a spokesperson for the N.W.T. Power Corporation, says it's not doing anything out the ordinary.

The corporation did use the Jackfish generators more than usual last year, but Coulter saidthat's happened in the past with no resulting algae bloom.

Not a public health issue

Dr. AndreCorriveau, N.W.T.'s Chief Medical Officer of Health,says at this point it's not a public health issueas the lake isn't a water source for the city and it has no public beaches.

He says algae generally don't harm fishbut, as a precautionary measure, people should wear gloves when handling fish from any lake infested with blue-green algae.

"Some types do have toxins and cause bad rashes," he said. "Some of them, if you drink the water, they cause toxicity to the liver."

It's advice Lafond is already following.

"I won't touch the fish," he says.

ENR plans to do follow-up tests this yearto learn more about the algae and how quickly it's growing.