Toxic algae blooms plaguing Florida have made headlines in recent weeks, but the gross green masses aren’t just a problem in the Sunshine State.

“No matter what part of the country you live in, this summer,” Environmental Working Group agriculture policy director Colin O’Neil told The Huffington Post.

Harmful algal blooms have affected bodies of water in,the , Oregon and Ohio, particularly Lake Erie.

Last year, the , surpassing the former record year of 2011. It shut down multiple private beaches and impacted tourism and fishing in the area. The year before that, winds and currents drove a massive bloom into the area, leaving more than 400,000 people unable to drink tap water for two days. This year’s event is expected to be considerably less severe, but a mild- to moderate-sized bloom is still likely to appear later this month and reach its peak size in August, according to AP.

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In Oregon, researchers say , the Register Guard reports. The blooms consist of cyanobacteria, which are harmful to humans and animals and are able to quickly multiply under the right conditions, creating visible colonies in the water.

Algae coats rocks at Maumee Bay State Park in Oregon, Ohio, on August 4, 2014.

(Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

in Burlington, Vermont, this month, according to WPTZ. The Burlington Parks and Recreation Department advised visitors to not let children swim in the water or dogs to drink from the water. This was the first algae-induced beach closure in the state this year.

In Colorado, , according to 9 News. Seventy percent of the park's most prominent water feature was covered over the course of three days. While the blooms were deemed not toxic, it impacted boat rentals and tourism to the lake, and made it difficult for waterfowl such as geese to move around.

In addition to introducing harmful toxins into the water, algae also contributes to oxygen-starved dead zones that make it difficult for fish and other water-dwelling creatures to survive.

Drinking or swimming in water contaminated by toxic algae canin humans.produced by the algae.

While climate change plays a large role in the development of these blooms, environmentalists say that agriculture is the main culprit.

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A report released by Environment America states that , 1 million acres of lakes and reservoirs, and 3,000 square miles of bays and estuaries to the point where they can’t be used for swimming, fishing, drinking water or maintaining healthy wildlife.

They estimate that the manure footprints of agribusinesses Tyson, JBS, Cargill, Smithfield and Perdue combined is more than 162 billion tons. This excess of manure ends up in rivers and streams, where it feeds the blooms with nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen.

“Drinking water managers have to be prepared for the worst,” LimnoTech scientist John Bratton told AP, adding that bloom movements are “inherently unpredictable.”

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To reduce the toll the agricultural business is taking on the nation’s waterways, Environment America recommends that:

The agricultural industry shifts away from industrial-scale livestock facilities and overproduction of commodity crops.Big agribusiness companies take full responsibility to remove excess manure from watersheds and ensure it is used sustainably elsewhere.The state and federal government ban practices such as leaking waste piles or lagoons and the over-application of manure and other fertilizers.Government agencies hold corporate agribusinesses legally responsible for waste produced by livestock they own or have contracted.

“This is about where we swim, where we fish, where we draw our drinking water,” Environment America senior attorney and report author John Rumpler told the Huffington Post. “When you work that back up the chain, you see that the folks that are selling us our food are polluting our water.”

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Florida's Algae Crisis

Boats docked at Central Marine in Stuart, Fla., are surrounded by blue green algae, Wednesday, June 29, 2016. ( Greg Lovett/The Palm Beach Post via AP)