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Story: Water quality

Blue-green algae in Lake Waihola, Otago

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Blue-green algae in Lake Waihola, Otago

In warm temperatures, chemical contaminants reaching lakes or rivers can result in blooms of blue-green algae, such as occurred in Lake Waihola, South Otago, in February 2002.

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Otago Regional Council

by Juliet Milne

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How to cite this page

Mike Scarsbrook and Kit Rutherford, Water quality – Water pollution, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/15521/blue-green-algae-in-lake-waihola-otago (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Mike Scarsbrook and Kit Rutherford, published 1 March 2009, updated 18 July 2016.