In recent days Dianchi Lake has followed in the footsteps of Lake Tai in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, which earlier this year experienced an outbreak of blue-green algae (蓝藻, lanzao). The algae bloom will not affect Kunming's tap water as the majority of the city gets its water from the Zhangjiuhe Reservoir, but as a Mr Zhao from the department responsible for Dianchi noted in an International Herald Tribune article, there are factories and farms around the lake using its water for industrial and agricultural purposes. Dianchi is China's sixth-largest freshwater lake.

Director of the Yunnan Provincial Environmental Protection Agency Wang Jianhua is quoted in Chinese media as emphasizing the safety of tap water in Kunming while also acknowledging that the algae bloom, which was spurred by a combination of hot weather and contaminants in Dianchi's water, could last all summer and reoccur at any time in the future.

Image: China Economic Net

Tags: algae, Dianchi Lake, environment