Nestled in the Cascade Mountains of southern Oregon, fed by a network of pure mountain streams and springs, anchored in deep volcanic soil and up to 35 feet of mineral rich sediment sits beautiful Upper Klamath Lake. A very productive lake, it is marked by high levels of available nutrients and plant life, making it one of nature's most miraculous nutrition resources. It is this wealth of nutrients that allows Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (Aph. flos-aquae), the algae species used by Simplexity Health, to grow in such abundance in the wild. In fact, Upper Klamath Lake is one of only a few ecosystems on earth that support the recurrent growth of Aph. flos-aquae in such abundance.

Upper Klamath Lake is nearly thirty miles long and up to eight miles wide, with an average depth of about eight feet (with isolated spots nearing fifty feet). Covering approximately 125 square miles, the lake is quite elongated and irregular in shape. It is fed by a mix of pure streams and creeks, natural springs, and two major snow-fed rivers, the Wood River and the Williamson River. Upper Klamath Lake is connected by a short channel to the smaller Agency Lake to the north and by the Link River to Lake Ewauna in the south. The Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge sits along the north edge of the lake. With mountainous terrain to the west and north, and the town of Klamath Falls lying downstream to the south, the lake is naturally isolated and protected. Seventy percent of the total watershed of the area that includes Upper Klamath Lake is under federal ownership.

The surrounding volcanic geology endows the lake with a rich supply of minerals each year. The result? In an age of rapidly acidifying lakes and streams, this protected environment not only shelters the lake, but it also allows for a consistent richly alkaline pH level.

Where do these minerals come from? For the past 10,000 years, since the last retreat of West Coast glaciers, the lake has served as a "nutrient trap" for a plentiful supply of minerals, volcanic silt, organic matter, and other nutrients washed in from some 3,800 square miles of land surface, much of it mountainous. In this environment of abundant minerals, natural nutrients, fresh water, and sunlight, Aph. flos-aquae has had the perfect opportunity to flourish to its full potential for a hundred centuries.

And flourish it does! Each year the lake's 594,000 acre-feet of water (650 billion gallons) produce in excess of 200 million pounds of its unique strain of Aph. flos-aquae. Much of the algae produced by Upper Klamath Lake each year remains within the lake system. Over the millennia, this has gradually built up a thick blanket of nutrient-rich sediment on the lake's floor. This annual deposit has resulted in a layer of rich sediment (loaded with nutrients to support many future years of algae blooms) that in some spots reaches 35 feet in depth.

The nurturing environment of Upper Klamath Lake provides the ideal home for this algae that provides such marvelous nutritional benefits. Considering the protected environment, the bounty of minerals and other nutrients, and the pure water of Upper Klamath Lake, as well as the 300 days of sunshine that grace the Klamath basin each year, it's no wonder that Aph. flos-aquae flourishes here in such abundance.