What are cyanobacteria? Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are a type of single-celled organism found naturally in all water bodies. Though they are able to use sunlight to make their own food, cyanobacteria also need nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus in order to grow. In warm, nutrient-rich water, cyanobacteria can reproduce quickly and spread across the water’s surface, forming blooms. Whether a bloom is harmful to humans and animals depends on the type of cyanobacteria present. Some cyanobacteria can produce cyanotoxins, a powerful poison. They can also block the sunlight from the rest of the ecosystem and consume all the oxygen that other organisms in the water need to survive. Blooms are most common in the late summer and in places where fertilizers, septic tank overflows and animal manure introduce high levels of nutrients into the water.

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How can I help? The Stormwater Innovation Center participates in the Cyanobacteria Monitoring Collaborative by teaching community volunteers how to collect and report cyanobacteria data to state and federal agencies using bloomWatch, cyanoScope and fluorometer analysis.