Lake Erie algal blooms
Toledo, Ohio, USA · 41.70°, -83.20° · River pollution
Farm fertiliser from the Maumee River feeds toxic green blooms that once shut off drinking water for 400,000 people.
Lake Erie was declared 'dead' in the 1960s, recovered after phosphorus controls in the 1970s, and then relapsed as dissolved phosphorus from farmland and heavier spring rains fed cyanobacteria blooms each summer. In August 2014 toxins reached Toledo's water intake and the city told residents not to drink the tap water for three days. Cover crops, wetland restoration and fertiliser rules are the main responses.
In the game
Lake Erie algal blooms flares up as Polluted water. The fix is a gesture: drag through the floating waste to sweep it up. Done right, it becomes Water cleaned ♻️. Finish all three steps of its chain in one round for a combo, or take your time in Explore mode: a place you fully restore stays green on your map for good.
🧭 Fly there and restore it▶ Play a 60-second round