New advice from the Environment Agency.

In June of this year the EA and Gwynedd Council gave warning that Llyn Padarn had high levels of toxic blue/green algae. This is naturally occurring but never, as far as I have known, been present in dangerous levels in Llyn Padarn. As the algae presented a health risk to people and animals I decided that it would be unacceptable for me to make the decision to expose my customers to this risk. From June onwards I have not used LLyn Padarn for any of my kayaking, canoeing or raft building activities. This is despite having a centre directly on the shores of the lake. As I write, this now totals four months of increased hassle and cost of running my business with no immediate end in sight.

What now wrangles is that the environment agency is now recommending that people should be switching to more ecologically sound detergents to help limit the level of nutrients making it through the water system into the lake. This education in its own right is commendable but costs me more in my operating costs. Surely it is also an admission that the sewage treatment works for Llanberis cannot cope with current demand, although Welsh Water claim this not to be the case. A report compiled in June by the EA noted it was likely that improvements to the Llanberis treatment works would be needed to ensure that the lake meet the requirements of the EC Water Framework Directive. Why on earth are we now trying to sort out a problem like this when the lake is apparently monitored so regularly? The EA advice could have been given earlier or Welsh Water should have ensured their treatment works was capable of dealing with increased levels of nutrients.

Hopefully Llanberis can lower its output of phosphates and nutrients to a point where they are manageable by the manmade and natural water systems that have to deal with them. If not, the worst case scenario may be that another hot summer may produce the same results. So far the algal blooms must have affected most outdoor centres and providers in North West Snowdonia. Three of these have a centre on the shores of Llyn Padarn with many more no more than fifteen minutes drive away. The blooms have also had a major impact of the fisheries of the Seiont River meaning two significant tourism industries have been restricted in operating when the recession is causing additional demands already.

Surely now that it is apparent that the local council, Welsh Water, the Environment Agency and the Welsh Assembly all know about this very serious problem, it is time for all involved to take responsibility for this environmental disaster and cure the problem causing it.