Strawberry Reservoir 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.

Located at 7,602 feet in the Uinta National Forest, Strawberry Reservoir is one of Utah’s most popular trout fisheries. Game fish include rainbow trout, Bear Lake cutthroat trout, kokanee salmon, and crayfish.

Data

Update November 6, 2017

The Division of Water Quality (DWQ) collected a sample at Haws Point on Strawberry Reservoir on October 25, 2017, after the DEQ Spill Line received a report of a cyanobacteria bloom in the area. Toxigenic cyanobacteria cell-count concentrations were greater than 256,000 cells per milliliter (cells/ml). These cell-count densities exceed the 20,000 cells/ml threshold for a warning advisory under UDOH-UDEQ health-based guidance. The dominant taxon was Aphanizomenon at 254,275 cells/ml. Other taxa present in very small quantities included Aphanocapsa, Aphanothece, and Synechocystis. Aphanizomenon is a potential toxin producer for microcystin, anatoxin-a, and cylindrospermopsin. Synechocystisis and Aphanocapsa are potential toxin producers for microcystin.

Toxin strip tests on the October 25, 2017, sample were non-detect for microcystin and detect for anatoxin-a. A confirmation sample was sent to the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) for ELISA testing for anatoxin-a levels. UDAF results were non-detect for anatoxin-a.

The bloom appears to be isolated to a few shoreline areas.