Panic has swept through Quebec’s cottage country this summer as a result of a provincial government list of dozens of lakes contaminated by toxic blue-green algae.

It’s not the news you want to read if you’ve invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in a summer cottage or a tourism business, or if you’re planning a lakeside vacation.

Quebec’s Liberal government has called for calm. But at midsummer, a list of 90 lakes, including some of the most popular in the province, sparked widespread consternation. Vacation plans have been altered, businesses that depend on tourism at affected lakes are suffering and cottage owners are fretting about the possibility of a sharp decline in property values.

Still, only a handful of the lakes are subject to full-scale health warnings against swimming or drinking the water. The others have had localized outbreaks of pond scum, but are not seriously contaminated. That has led some observers, including marine biologists who are deeply concerned about the province’s lakes, to say the problem has been sensationalized.

Blue-green algae, known to scientists as cyanobacteria, are micro-organisms that occur naturally in lakes and rivers. Problems arise when there is an overabundance of nutrients, particularly phosphorus, in the water. This encourages growth of the algae, which produce toxins that can cause vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and fever, as well as skin and eye irritation and sore throats. There have been reports of dogs dying after ingesting the toxin.

The sources of phosphorus include fertilizer-rich runoff from farms and lakeside lawns, malfunctioning septic systems and dishwashing detergent that contains phosphates. Among agricultural sources, the province’s pig farms are of particular concern because they spray manure onto fields from where it makes its way into rivers and lakes.

Of course, blue-green algae outbreaks occur in waterways elsewhere, although there doesn’t seem to be the same level of concern as there is in Quebec. Ontario issued only 14 public-health warnings because of blue-green algae between 2003 and 2006, the Montreal Gazette reports. Manitoba has closed fewer than 10 beaches as a result of blue-green algae since it began monitoring for cyanobacteria in the early 1990s, the newspaper says, although there has been concern about algae outbreaks in Lake Winnipeg this summer.

Scientists say the province and municipalities must act to prevent the problem from becoming worse. But, so far, the response of the minority Liberal government has been timid.

Quebec Environment Minister Line Beauchamp has talked about bringing in new restrictions on harmful farm practices and septic systems and requiring lakeside vegetation buffer zones. There has also been talk of banning phosphates from dishwashing detergent, as Ontario has.

But, before doing anything, Beauchamp wants to talk. She plans to tour the hardest-hit regions and hold a symposium on the issue this fall. In the meantime, she has gone out of her way to be reassuring. As has Health Minister Philippe Couillard, who looked on calmly as his son participated in a 10-kilometre swim in Lac-St-Jean, north of Quebec City, one of the lakes on the warning list.

“Out of Quebec’s 500,000 lakes, only 85 are affected. I think the situation is worrying and I’m not trying to minimize it, but it’s only 85 lakes,” Beauchamp said in July.

The blue-green algae problem is a sticky one from a political point of view. In Quebec’s highly charged political climate, Opposition parties have attacked the minority Liberals for failing to get out in front of the issue. At the same time, Greenpeace has pointed the finger at lax environmental practices on farms, and demanded the government rescind an agreement that exempts farmers from some environmental restrictions until 2010.

But farmers say they are not to blame for algae infestations. And tightening farm restrictions will be tricky for the government because rural ridings are those in which Quebec elections are won and lost.

It seems the algae is spreading, not only in Quebec’s waterways but into the province’s political scene. IE