Grace College student interns Michael Stauffer, left, and Morgan Burkholder collect physical and environmental data from Center Lake. Photo provided.

News Release

WINONA LAKE — On Friday, June 2, the Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams will publish the summer’s first toxin notification for the county’s 12 all-sport lakes, Center Lake and Pike Lake.

Subscribers can expect toxin updates every Friday through the middle of August.

The public is invited to sign up for toxin notifications at lakes.grace.edu/microcystin.

The Lilly Center is a research and education center whose mission is to make Kosciusko County’s lakes and streams clean, healthy and safe. Its research focuses on cyanobacteria, also called blue-green algae, and the harmful toxin it can produce. Cyanobacteria tend to bloom and release toxins during warm summer months when nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous are readily available in lakes.

According to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the safety threshold of microcystin toxin for dogs is 0.8 parts per billion. The safety threshold for humans is 8.0 ppb.

“There’s a global effort to understand what causes cyanobacteria to bloom and produce toxins,” said Matt Burlingame, assistant director of research at the Lilly Center. “Focusing on Kosciusko County lakes allows us to see trends and respond quickly to potentially harmful cyanobacteria blooms.”

The Lilly Center’s toxin team processes water samples in its lab. Results from the toxin tests are also available on the Lilly Center’s website: lakes.grace.edu.

Toxin testing and notifications are possible thanks to support from the K21 Health Foundation.