Guatemala lake tapping into how Tahoe has been preserved
By Science Daily
A team of scientists from the University of Nevada, Reno, DRI, Arizona State University and University of California, Davis has returned from a two-week expedition to Guatemala’s tropical high-mountain Lake Atitlan, where they are working to find solutions to the algae blooms that have assailed the ecosystem and the drinking water source for local residents.
The lake’s water is contaminated with watershed runoff and waste water, which contributes to increased algae growth and suitable conditions for bacteria and pathogens such as, Escherichia coli and Giardia that can proliferate and enter untreated drinking water.
In 2009, the Global Nature Fund designated Guatemala’s Lake Atitlan as its “Threatened Lake of the Year.”