Hoop Lake Algal Bloom 2017

Report a Bloom

24-Hour DEQ Environment Incidents Line: (801) 536-4123

Call Utah Poison Control Center

Call the Poison Control Center

If you believe you or your pet have been exposed to a harmful algal bloom, call (800) 222-1222.

Hoop Lake is a popular fishing and camping spot in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest in the Uinta Mountains. The high-elevation lake, located at 9,226 feet, also provides access to a number of trails in the area.

Data

Update October 4, 2017

The Division of Water Quality (DWQ) collected a sample at the Hoop Lake shoreline on September 26, 2017, after observing what appeared to be an algal bloom. Sample results showed toxigenic cyanobacteria cell-count concentrations of 720,782,644 cells per milliliter (cells/ml). Aphanizomenon, a potential toxin producer for microcystin, anatoxin-a, and cylindrospermopsin, was the only toxigenic cyanobacteria genus found in the sample.

Toxin testing by the Utah Public Health Lab found 0.09 micrograms per liter (µ/L) of microcystin in the sample. Toxin testing by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) found 2.1 µ/L of anatoxin-a in the same sample.

DWQ estimates that the cyanobacteria bloom covers less than one percent of the lake. Colder weather in recent weeks has likely increased ice-cover on the lake .