Algae bloom covers parts of Tempe Town Lake, city tells lake goers to be cautious

TEMPE, Ariz. - What looks like green sludge is coating the surface in parts of Tempe Town lake. Blue-gree algae has moved in, thanks to runoff from the Salt River. Now the city is alerting people to take precautions because they don't know if it's toxic or not.

The Arizona Dragon Boat Team is in the water, practicing like they do every day. But today, they're being a little more cautious because of what's gathering in the water.

"When you come to the marina at the boat ramp and see green algae floating on top, it's a little disconcerting," said Betty Flores with the Arizona Dragon Boat Association.

In certain areas of Tempe Town Lake, there are pockets of blue-green algae. The city says recent flows form the Salt River upstream brought it here.

"It is a manmade lake, but we try to keep it as natural as possible," said Craig Caggiano, Water Utilities  Operation Manager at Tempe Town Lake. "But we allow it to go through normal cycles, which include algae blooms and that's what's happening now."

They say this is common but they're testing to figure out if it's toxic or not. They've put up signs alerting the public and they're recommending a suspension of paddleboarding.

"You should always avoid contact with algae because you don't know if it's a harmful algae or not," Caggiano said.

And because of this, the Dragon Boat Association say they're taking the extra precautions and don't plan on doing anything crazy.

"It may look a little yucky, but we go in and we may raise our paddles up a little more to get to cleaner water," Flores said."We don't anticipate capsizing a boat — we just take a little more precaution."

The city says they'll have the test results by Friday or early next week. From there, they'll decide what the best plan of action is.