The darn stuff stinks, in more ways than one. It’s downright dangerous too, for people, pets, wildlife and livestock.

What I am referring too is cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. Green algae is annoying enough, to be sure, but blue-green takes the annoyance to the next level. Not only is it unsightly, it can kill. It does kill.

Blue-green algae can produce cyanotoxins in the water. Anything labeled “toxin” is not good and deserves special attention. Ingestion of, even contact with, blue-green algae can cause all sorts of problems. Sometimes deadly serious problems.

The North Dakota Department of Health warns that ingesting water containing blue-green algae can cause a person to become sick with diarrhea and vomiting, make your lips numb, give you tingling fingers and toes, cause dizziness and rashes and skin blisters. Nice huh?

Blue-green algae is just that, stinky and sticky blue-green scum that usually forms on the surface of water from potholes to stockdams to lakes. I’ve waded into ankle deep water to hook my boat up to the trailer winch and been itchy for hours. I blame the presence of blue-green algae that had yet to break out into a visible form on the surface.

I know people who have had dogs die from drinking water containing blue-green algae. Recently the North Dakota State University Extension Service linked the death of nine cattle to the presence of blue-green algae, cyanobacteria, in a stock pond. Livestock kills are not uncommon. Wildlife die from the stuff too.

The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality advises that it takes only a few hot days to cause algae to bloom, all too often blue-green algae, and we’ve had plenty of hot weather already this summer. Last year the Department of Health posted warnings at several bodies of water in the state, advising people to swim and boat and jet ski somewhere else or risk becoming infected with cyanotoxins.

Children are more vulnerable to blue-green algae exposure than are adults. Spray off a boat wake or while riding a jet ski can easily get on the skin or in the mouth or eyes. Pets can get sick or die just by licking their coats after a quick swim. Death can come quickly, too.

High nutrient levels entering the water, such as from fertilizers, is what usually leads to the formation of algae blooms. Many lakes and ponds have a high nutrient build-up that get revved up by hot and dry weather and it is that time of year.

There’s no easy solution to ridding the landscape of blue-green algae but ignoring the problem does no good at all. It just gets worse. Water quality is important, too important to ignore.

It’s a good thing that the ND Department of Health has been taking action to flag waters where blue-green algae levels are too high for the safety of the general public. They have some programs to remedy the problem too. It is my hope that enough will be done to reverse the harmful degradation of our state’s water bodies, large and small.