High levels of algal toxins found in Lake Cornelia
Photo Courtesy: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (KMSP) - The City of Edina is warning residents to avoid the water at Lake Cornelia after finding high levels of algal toxins.
Officials with the city and the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District detected high Microcystin levels in recent lake samples.
Contact with Microcystins could damage the liver, kidneys and in some cases even cause death.
“The City is working to minimize invasive aquatic plants in Lake Cornelia and promote the growth of a healthy native aquatic plant population to ‘tie-up’ phosphorus, making less of it available for cyanobacteria and other algae to grow,” said City of Edina Water Resources Coordinator Jessica Vanderwerff Wilson.
The lake is treated for algae up to twice a year.
The high levels were also found in the lake last September.
The Watershed District will monitor the toxicity levels and notify the public when the lake water is safe again.