“The water in Baikal turned out to be toxic”, “Toxins were found in Baikal, it is no longer possible to drink water from it”, “in Baikal the concentrations of bacteria producing toxic substances have increased to extreme levels” - these and similar sensational messages filled the Russian press after the All-Russian Water Congress. Editorial N+1 asked Maxim Timofeev, director of the Research Institute of Biology of Irkutsk State University, to explain whether Baikal water has really become dangerous, what actually threatens the lake and whether we can cope with these threats.