Information in this section is from the 2003 Golden Alga Workshop and was current at that time. Please see the main Golden Alga page and Current Bloom Status for up-to-date information.

Golden Alga Workshop

Subgroup Recommendations:

Subgroups met to consider 5 separate questions and to recommend actions.

What research protocols do you believe would provide the greatest “bang for the buck?” (Include ideas on modeling here.)

Actions:

• Recognize that much general research and knowledge is still needed.
• Collect monitoring data, including full cycle of blooms (beginning to end).
Establish more standardized protocols for effective data analysis and comparison.
• Develop additional information on numbers, affected species, and range.
• Establish if there is an association with introduced species in Texas.
• Investigate allelopathy events during and after the event.
• Increase sampling frequency to the maximum feasible levels (weekly/biweekly).
• Establish how many strains are loose in Texas and if they are the same or related.
• Dovetail lab input with monitoring efforts more closely.
• Determine which methods work and which environments are needed by conducting trials on small scales.
• Facilitate research that enables us to attack the source(s) of the problem, especially nutrients.
• Consider variables in sedimentation as contributory factors.
• Increase work on experimental exposures and toxin study.
• Build a model for the mixotrophy/phagotrophy of the event; do more than cell counts.
• Establish a database the HAB community can contribute to and utilize.
• Encourage greater coordination of agency and academic efforts.
• Establish and publish the current “knowns” NOW.

Specific Research or Data:

• Sampling of community structures: zooplankton, phytoplankton, and bacterial
• Irradiance profiles
• Sediment profiles for persistence
• Nitrogen, Phosphorus, available CO2 and O2 concentrations, pH, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand
• Silicates, Cobalt, B12
• Specific ions and Conductivity
• Data management with Geographic Information System (GIS) databases are needed for georeference.

Discussion

• Groups in the Pacific Northwest have been successful changing flows. Explore similarities here.
• Integration of state databases will have to be considered. (Look at Florida’s experience.) This is a major undertaking, but ultimately it can yield huge results. Get started now with planning for data management wants and needs. (TPWD is developing the Resource Information System to assist in this.)
• Coordinate efforts between groups such as Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Clean Rivers Program. Coordinate monitoring meetings. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department should be participating in these.
• Rapid progress is made where there is a chemical/analytical facility that can deliver quick turnarounds.
• Establish foundation techniques for the chemical identification and study of toxins. Closer is better.

From a research perspective, what work must be done to provide practical solutions to P. parvum challenges?

• Acquire hand-held detection devices for cells and toxins ASAP.
• Perform toxin identification and classification of toxin dynamics in the field.
• Focus comprehensive monitoring on a specific bloom from start to finish with daily sampling.
• Plan mitigation with strategies, risk assessments, and flow charts of roles and responsibilities.
• Discover and implement short-term mitigation controls in aquaculture and natural systems.
• Identify control mechanisms.
• Determine long-term bloom causes such as nitrogen/phosphorus ratios and loading conditions; work towards prevention.
• Analyze historical blooms; include data-mining of bloom and non-bloom areas.
• Compare meteorological data and long-term relationships.

What are the top 5 tools or research findings that managers need to address the P. parvum problem? (Not funding)

Tools:

• An easy-to-use hand-held detection device for early warning
• Predictive models for blooms defining why blooms start and what changes in a system
• Tools and techniques that predict conditions for possible future blooms
• Statewide coordination of water quality data
• Full understanding of the range of HAB parameters that must be monitored

Actions:

• Identify statewide data distributions.
• Determine if there are meaningful controls to stop or contain the spread of HABs.
• Develop cost-effective, viable counter-measures and tools to combat and prevent blooms.
• Determine if reasonable controls on septic tanks are likely to help.
• Establish fish refugia sites during stress and HABs.
• Probe for P. parvum’s weakest link.
• Better understand and communicate the total economic impact of blooms and economically viable treatment alternatives.
• Focus on developing an understanding of HAB origins and triggers.
• Understand water system operations and the implications of changes such as artificial flush reductions; all changes have political dimensions that have to be considered.
• Maintain a long-term goal to prevent future blooms; avoid “Band-Aid” solutions.

Identify funding strategies, sources, and potential partners for P. parvum research

• Understand that partnerships come in several levels, including affected stakeholders (anglers, lakeshore residents, guides, businesses, etc. These will comprise the main support group for solutions.), state HAB partners (It will be essential to speak with the same voice and share resources effectively.), federal partners, university partners, and others.
• Include international partners; the problem is bigger than Texas. Efforts between the National Science Foundation and the European Community on HABs should be continued. Remain engaged.
• Clearly identify the problem in terms all stakeholders can comprehend. Economic impacts will need to be at the top of everyone’s list.
• TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) is working toward long-term monitoring on the Pecos River and other locations. More cooperation is needed and planned.
• USDA South Texas Agricultural Research Laboratory in Weslaco has an aircraft which may be available for bloom monitoring.
• Articulate a plan for engaging partners to work together.
• Barley bales, hay bales, and Christmas trees all offer opportunities for experiments with partners and constituents. The worst thing that can happen in these experiments may be that we add some new fish habitat! Results here will generate positive momentum and give us tangible results to show for our efforts.
• Identify and leverage River Watch partners and other volunteer groups. Provide them with tools and techniques to assist in monitoring and data collection.
• Use Texas Parks and Wildlife Department resources wisely. Use the funding review process to select the best of the best from proposal alternatives.
• Raise the level of funding by encouraging other partners to contribute resources.

Identify messages that must be communicated to the public, the government, and the press on the “knowns” of P. parvum

• Develop a focused, consistent message that many can deliver and reinforce.
• Communicate that this is NOT a public health threat.
• Be willing to state what is Not known.
• Deliver messages in terms of animal and pet health.
• Deliver messages rapidly; provide as much information as possible immediately.
• Always be proactive: get messages out earlier rather than waiting for complete or perfect information.
• Include small community papers in the communication strategy.
• Anticipate distrust and skepticism from the general public.
• Emphasize that P. parvum has been around for a long period of time.
• Discuss where it exists without causing kills or other problems.
• Communicate that the impacts of P. parvum may be severe, but they are temporary.
• Include a “Top 10” list of Frequently Asked Questions.
• Deliver messages in terms of economic impact, especially the potential number of lost jobs in Texas or the affected areas.
• Be up-front about uncertainty; we have a lot to learn.
• Maintain a Golden Alga web site. (This offers interactivity for researchers and the public.)
• Offer “after-hour” points of contact for the media and citizens.
• Emphasize that the problem and solutions are complex; learning is continuous.
• Communicate how we will address causes of blooms and sources of environmental problems.
• Enlist the support of all Texans in solving the problem.
• Frame the issue in terms of health of the reservoir (ex: usually all the fish in the reservoir were not lost).
• Highlight what is still there.
• Leverage California’s invasive species example: what it is, what it does, what we know. Use this at boat ramps.
• Communicate the results of today’s session to the press. State results and communicate regularly.

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