Lake Erie's algal bloom was here in 1800s as well

Living in northern Ohio, our biggest feature is, obviously, Lake Erie. The lake is integral to life here. It is where we get fish for food; it is where our families go to spend time together.So when there are any major changes to the lake, we all feel it. Recently, the algae bloom has flared up again. It has become an old acquaintance. The algae bloom has been around for at least 200 years.When I was doing research on Venice, Ohio, for one of the historians of the Castalia – Margaretta Historical Library, I ran across a series of letters belonging to James Flint that were published by The Arthur H. Clark Company in "Volume IX" of Early Western Travels. The letters were most likely written around 1818.Excerpts from letters:"The land in and about this village is owned by two men from Connecticut, who calculated, probably, on a large town or city, but it had not answered their expectations, people finding the place very unhealthy owing to the badness of the water. The unhealthiness of the place, however, continues only from the middle of July through the fall month; the remaining part of the year is considered healthy." (page 85)"The inhabitants of the village remain very healthy until July, when a new complaint of the eyes became epidemic among them. It attacked all ages and sexes without distinction, and, with some, would in a few days cause total blindness.This complaint is, I believe, what physicians call the Egyptian Opthalmia. Some, who were very prompt in their applications, were fortunate enough to recover their sight after a considerable time; and others, not made wholly blind, never seem so well as before. Many of the inhabitants were attacked with fever and ague, and these generally escaped the more formidable disease of the eyes.As for myself, I remained perfectly well until November, when, one morning my right eye was attacked with inflammation and swelling; and the next morning my left eye was attacked in the same manner. The inflammation gradually increased, so that in about three weeks I was totally blind. My surgeon, a very skillful man, made every exertion for my recovery, and about the middle of December, I could discern light, and in ten or twelve days after, could distinguish colors." (pages 56 and 57)I wish I new the surgeon and his treatment for Flint's eyes. I live within a mile of Venice and in the fall of the year; I have similar problems with my eyes. Could the bad water mentioned in the letter above be algae bloom causing air pollution?I remember as a teenage in the 1940s, my mother told me not to go swimming in Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie in August, because the lake was cleaning itself and the water could cause me to become very sick.In the 1950s an elderly, widowed gentleman in his 70s lived next door. If he saw me out on my back porch, shelling peas or snapping green beans, he would come over to talk with me, about his life in the Venice area. At that time there was much talk and news reporting about the lake dying. He assured me that the lake was not dying and this problem happens about every 13 years.In 1968 and 1969 my son was lifeguard at Kelley's Island 4H camp. He said every morning in August; he and the manager would go out in the swimming area and rake the algae out of the water.It appears we have been having trouble with algae in the lake for over 200 years. Long before farmers were using phosphorous fertilizer and cities were dumping raw sewage in the waterways. Could the algae have come from the marshes?I remember in the 1980s the marshes were being choked by a toxic weed that had beautiful blue flowers. It was killing much of the wild life. I no longer see the flowers, so someone must have found a way to get rid of the weed. Maybe someone can find a way to get rid of the algae.The reason the algal bloom has become so plentiful and harmful could be because the cities and municipalities are pumping so much water out of the tributaries and lake for human consumption. This has lowered the water level, so sunlight reaches the bottom of the lake to make the algae grow.The committee that is responsible for the water quality of the lake needs to study the history of algae and find a way to kill the algae before it blooms and spreads.Alice Knauer is a resident of Castalia.