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Diamond Lake campers brave algae stench Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell A pair of visitors get in some sightseeing at Diamond Lake, which has been plagued this summer by algae blooms pushed by winds close to shore areas where visitors congregate for things like picnicking. By MELISSA MARTIN DIAMOND LAKE - Campers and boaters trying to escape the hot, smoke-filled Rogue Valley over the weekend flocked to Diamond Lake, where health officials had posted signs warning swimmers that the water may be toxic. "No Swimming" signs posted Friday didn't keep away an estimated 1,000 campers who came to catch trout, bicycle around Diamond Lake's 11 miles of paved paths or hike to the top of Mount Thielsen. "In the 21 years I've been here, I've never seen this campground totally full in August," said Yvonne Web, who runs the nearby South Shore Store. "The heat was bringing everybody up." Douglas County health officials closed the lake to swimming because they fear dense algae blooms may be producing toxins. Test results are expected from an Ohio laboratory this week, said a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman. If the toxins are present, people and pets who swim, drink or come in contact with lake water could get a rash, diarrhea, nausea, cramps, dizziness, fainting or other symptoms. But visitors over the weekend didn't seem to be daunted by the greenish-brown water, which began to smell foul at the South Shore picnic area as the sun rose in the sky. The Diamond Lake and Thielsen View campgrounds were full, Broken Arrow Campground was nearly full and Diamond Lake Resort was packed. "It was the heat," said Terry Klingenberg, recreation manager for the Diamond Lake Ranger District. "A lot of people needed to get out of the valley." Many campers who wanted to swim drove 10 miles north to Lemolo, a man-made lake that's 100 feet deep in places. On Saturday, the lake was crowded with swimmers, skiers and rafters enjoying temperatures around 85, compared to Medford's 100-degree high. "There's so much to do at Diamond Lake," said Steve Koch, manager of Diamond Lake Resort, a popular fishing lodge that opened in 1921. Last weekend, the resort rented an above-ground pool so its guests had a place to swim. "We've got 50 different lakes and streams all within a short drive of us," Koch said. "Because they can't swim in Diamond Lake, a lot of people are re-discovering (the surrounding) area." There was also a crowd Saturday night at the Diamond Lake Campground amphitheater, where a show featuring a wolf from the Howling Acres Wolf Sanctuary drew a record-breaking 510 people, Klingenberg said. The boat ramps stayed busy too. "They are still pulling some beautiful fish out of Diamond Lake," said Liz Stevenson-Shaw, a Forest Service spokeswoman. "Some trout - like the Williamson - feed so well on the tui chub." But it's the tui chub that's mostly to blame for the dense algae bloom. In the 1950s, an angler illegally baited his hook with a Klamath Basin tui chub minnow and cast it into the mile-high lake. Since then, growing schools of chubs have been eating the organisms that feed on the algae-eating plankton, breaking the food chain and upsetting the lake's balance. The natural lake, which is only 50 feet deep, has always had blue-green algae (vanabaena flos-aquae), but it's usually only noticeable for a week or two in the summer, said Koch, who has worked at Diamond Lake since 1956. "This time it's stayed longer and the wind blew it into the corners of the lake," Koch said. "There's been no rain to knock it down. It's compounded by the drought and not much snowpack. When you get not a lot of cold water running into a very shallow lake, that's the natural thing that happens." The water's worst points - odor and color - haven't deterred tourists. "We've been getting quite the flow of visitors, and it's been a great year," said John O'Connor, a U.S. Forest Service wastewater plant and building maintenance operator. He emphasized that the drinking water at the campgrounds and the resort remains clean and safe to drink. The U.S. Forest taps two wells, one drilled at 200 feet and the other at 75 feet, to supply a 200,000-gallon reservoir that serves the three campgrounds. "We're gearing up for another busy weekend," he said. Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.