Legislation making its way on Capitol Hill could help Florida communities hit by toxic algae blooms.

The Senate Commerce Committee approved the measure that for the first time would make federal funding available to communities and states affected by toxic algae blooms.

The legislation would grant authority to NOAA and the Environmental Protection Agency to declare the blooms nationally significant, opening access to funding.

Toxic algae blooms last year on Florida's east and west coasts including in the Indian River Lagoon prompted emergency declarations in four counties.

The blooms are a growing problem. A 2014 occurrence in Lake Erie disrupted the drinking water for more than 200,000 in Toledo, Ohio, shutting down the city.

New research shows toxic algae blooms like those that plagued Florida's coastal estuaries this summer are a growing global problem.

Research from the U.S. Geological Survey shows toxic algae blooms have been reported nationwide and are implicated in human and animal illness and death in at least 43 states.

Jennifer Graham of the U.S. Geological Survey says the blooms are a natural occurrence but that more nutrients from fertilizers and septic tanks and a warming climate are worsening them.

"There has been a very clear increase in the occurrence of these events recently, ones where we're manifesting and we're seeing coverage of an entire surface or a lake."

This summer's toxic algae blooms triggered states of emergency in four Florida counties.

A 2014 bloom in Lake Erie disrupted the drinking water for more than 200,000 residents of Toledo, Ohio, and is estimated to have caused losses of some $65 million.

Water managers announced Thursday they will increase flows from Lake Okeechobee to coastal estuaries.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the news as the state's largest lake remains near a historic high with seven weeks remaining of Florida's rainy season.

But Paul Gray of Audubon of Florida says the releases of excess polluted water will not be as large as during the summer, when toxic algae blooms fouled coastal estuaries.

"They're only increasing them to what we consider the threshold of harmful releases. And what that means is this is the highest we can release without causing a lot of harm to the estuaries."

Lake Okeechobee has been rain-swollen all year, pressuring its aging dike. The influxes triggered the toxic blooms, which prompted emergency declarations in multiple counties.