6/30/2024
WT Staff
 HAPPENING NOW
Sunday, June 30 2024
26 Beach Advisories
June 30, 2024 1018 am EDT
HAB Tracker satellite monitoring program of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
WT follows the movement and growth of harmful algal blooms (HABs) as provided by the satellite monitoring program of the NCCOS for New York's Lake Champlain, Ohio's Lake Erie and Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain and surrounding area. Interpretation of satellite images is best in clear conditions at wind speed less than 4 pm, where the appearance and extent of HABs is reliably matched to a color scale for concentration. HABs are known to produce algal toxins of concern for raw drinking water sources and recreational water bodies.
Ohio: Twenty-six Recreational Public Health Advisories in effect Sunday from Department of Health, including four beaches on Grand Lake posted for algal toxins, 19 Lake Erie beaches posted for high bacterial contamination and three more interior water bodies posted for bacteria levels above the threshhold for public safety.
Lake Erie west basin is captured by the NCCOS monitoring satellite, the latest upload taken June 28 at wind speed 13.8 mph. The image is cloud obscured in the west with no view of Maumee Bay, clear in the east with "Sandy" the Sandusky Bay HAB completely visible, maintaining the high concentration and filling inner and outer bay area up to 2 million cells per 100 ml in the inner bay closer to the mainland. Sandy appeared in Sandusky Bay on June 11, since expanding to fill the inner and outer bay areas and accelerating in concentration to extreme levels not seen at this time of year, nor in this location in 2023. The full Ohio HAB report is available here.
New York
Lake Champlain widespread HAB off the northeast shore on the Canadian side of the border has accelerated in concentration from the initial sighting around 400 thousand cells per 100 ml on June 26. The latest image was captured June 28, shows the widespread HAB in Baie Missisquoi matching the color scale at extreme high concentration, 1 million to 2 million cells per 100 ml. The highest concentration appears on the east side of the bloom mass. Two additional HAB reports for Lake Champlain have been confirmed by NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, both found off the west shore at Point au Roche in Clinton County in the bays between Short Point and Long Point. Plan beach access to avoid HABs and consider carrying a rapid test kit for microcystins. Forty-nine HABs are confirmed for interior NYS water bodies. New HABs confirmed this weekend include the first HABs of the season for Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn, Ellicott Creek in Erie County and Hyde Lake in Jefferson County. Get the latest NYS HAB report here.
Louisiana: Southeast LA water bodies are captured in a wide angle pass by the Copernicus-Sentinel III satellite, catching Lake Pontchartrain to Black Bay in frame. The latest image was captured June 29 at a surface wind speed 5.2 mph. Lake Pontchartrain HAB is visible once again off the north shore around Big Branch Marsh a large localized low concentration HAB. This latest image is mostly clear with a good view of most southeast water bodies. The latest HAB report for Louisiana is available here.
As many drinking water facilities are supplied from surface water reservoirs, the streamflow situation is pertinent to both drinking water supply and quality. High flows can stir up sediment and cause turbidity in the reservoirs, requiring additional treatments to render the water potable. Low flow volume is linked to warmer temperatures in the reservoir and can be an issue for water quality where HABs are present. WT tracks streamflow trends with an eye to the impacts on drinking water supply and quality in each of the state's watersheds. Check the watershed layer on the map to see the direction of flow and streamflows that may be impacting drinking water today.
USGS Provisional Data Statement
Data are provisional and subject to revision until they have been thoroughly reviewed and received final approval. Current condition data relayed by satellite or other telemetry are automatically screened to not display improbable values until they can be verified.
Provisional data may be inaccurate due to instrument malfunctions or physical changes at the measurement site. Subsequent review based on field inspections and measurements may result in significant revisions to the data.
Data users are cautioned to consider carefully the provisional nature of the information before using it for decisions that concern personal or public safety or the conduct of business that involves substantial monetary or operational consequences. Information concerning the accuracy and appropriate uses of these data or concerning other hydrologic data may be obtained from the USGS.
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