(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
SPOKANE, Wash. -Before running into the lake, there are some things you need to check for.
"If it looks bad, don't go in," Pat McGuire, who works for the Department of Ecology for the Water Equality Program in Spokane said.
The green algae that looks like paint gets worse during the summer because bacteria likes to grow on warm surfaces.
McGuire said the blue algae is the one you need to watch out for as the temperature rises.
"For people it's kind of an irritant, so if it gets in your eyes or on your skin you'll probably get a rash," McGuire said.
If you do get in contact with the blue algae, McGurie says to wash yourself off immediately to get rid of the toxins, then go see a doctor.
When you first lay down your towel by the lake, there might not be any algae in the water next to you. But, McGuire says that could change.
"And that's the unfortunate thing, in the morning the algae can be on one side of the lake.. and later on the other side. it doesn't necessarily stay in one spot all the time," McGuire said.