– By Richard Leduc and Maude Chartrand, Geography Department, Université Laval –

Lake Saint-Charles is the main source of drinking water for nearly 300,000 citizens of Quebec City’s and other municipalities. For several years obvious signs of accelerated aging of the water body were noticed, one of the symptoms of which is the appearance and recurrence (since 2006) of episodes of potentially toxic cyanobacterial water blooms.