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Great Lakes Today was created to highlight issues affecting the lakes. The main partners are WBFO (Buffalo), ideastream (Cleveland) and WXXI (Rochester).Browse more coverage here. Major funding for Great Lakes Today is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American People. Additional funding comes from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.

Photo Gallery: Lake Erie Algae Bloom Spreads

By Elizabeth Miller

Published September 29, 2017 at 3:08 PM EDT

Lake Erie 9-25-17 [Aerial Associates Photography, Inc. by Zachary Haslick]

The algae bloom season continues in western Lake Erie, casting turning the lake and Maumee River green. These photos show the bloom's progression from mid-September to the end of the month.

Cities that receive water from the lake, including Toledo, report that water is still safe to drink. However, Toledo recently placed a recreational advisory for the Maumee River.

The appearance of algae blooms also has sparked a response Toledo politicians, including Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson.

Tuesday, Hicks-Hudson announcedshe would push state and federal officials to designate western Lake Erie as an impaired waterway -- action that would lead to pollution limits. She also wrote to Ohio Gov. John Kasich and President Donald Trump, asking that they support the designation.

In her letter to Trump, Hicks-Hudson said that his "leadership on this issue would be a lasting legacy to restoring our part of America to greatness." Hicks-Hudson says she has already written Trump twice -- in December 2016 and April 2017.

Hicks-Hudson's support of an impairment designation doesn't mean it will happen. The final decision is up to the U.S. EPA.