The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has lifted a contact advisory for a portion of the Pearl River that was found to be experiencing excessive algae growth.
Officials first urged the public to avoid the area of the river spanning from the Highway 25 bridge near the intersection of Highway 13 to the Low Head Dam in Madison and Leake counties on Sept. 24 due to the presence of a harmful algal bloom. Specifically, teams from the state discovered several species of algae that could be harmful to humans through contact.
The Pearl River was regularly monitored during the advisory, and recent sample results show that the harmful algal bloom has significantly diminished. As a result, the expanded advisory is no longer in effect.
While one Pearl River advisory has been lifted, another remains in place. Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality officials say the longstanding bacteria-related water contact advisory for the section of the river from Hanging Moss Creek to the Byram Swinging Bridge remains in effect.
For this stretch of Mississippi’s second-largest river, the public is asked to avoid all water contact activities such as swimming, wading, and fishing.
