Brent Bellinger, a senior environmental scientist with the Austin Watershed Protection Department, conducts water tests at Lady Bird Lake, focusing on harmful blue-green algae linked to dog deaths last summer. The pandemic has delayed toxin testing from two to five days due to new protocols. Bellinger collects samples weekly from multiple locations in the lake, monitoring conditions that affect algae growth. While some algae were pushed away by recent rainfall, anthropogenic factors like fertilizer runoff and invasive zebra mussels worsen the situation by consuming beneficial algae. (Word count: 87)
