8/4/2024
WT Staff
 August 4, 2024 5 pm EDT
HAPPENING NOW
Bluegreen algae update
WT HAB Tracker from state sources and where available, the satellite monitoring program of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
Lake Erie west basin: Ohio, Michigan
The latest satellite view from NCCOS was captured August 3 at surface wind speed 8.8 mph, a clear image of the lakewide HAB. North Maumee Bay retains the high concentration, the entire bay is full of HAB at 1 million cells per 100 ml. Maumee Bay State Park HAB is up around 1 million cells per 100 ml along the Cedar Point west shoreline. Sandusky Bay HAB Aphanizomenon appears lower concentration 500 thousand cells per 100 ml. Note Aphanizomenon type cyanobacteria produce cylindrospermopsins liver toxin, this is different from microcystins. EPA guidelines for each are below. See the last Ohio HAB report here.
Louisiana: The latest upload from the NCCOS was captured August 3 at wind speed 2.9 mph. This image is clear, the wind speed no longer an issue for assessing HAB extent in the larger water bodies. Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas appear completely clear of HAB activity, this is reliable as the wind would not be interfering with the buoyancy and visibility of any HAB mats. HABs are visualized in most southeast water bodies including Lake Cataouache and Lake Salvador. The same pond near Burnside shows extreme high concentration over 2 million cells per 100 ml, as does Wetland Watchers Park inland water body. Keep pets leashed to avoid contact with these highly toxic ponds. See the full report here.
Georgia:
Georgia Healthy Beaches program of Coastal Public Health tests beaches, posting permanent and temporary advisories about bacteria levels. Jekyll Island has two permanent advisories in place, both beaches tested clear for bacteria in the last quarterly water sample. As of this report, all St Simons Island and Jekyll Island beaches are marked with the green light signal, no temporary advisories are issued for elevated bacteria. No new information has been found on the presence of HABs in Georgia since our last update. Georgia Environmental Protection Division does accept reports from the public of suspicious algal blooms. As we receive updates from EPD, the results will be found here. The latest Georgia beach advisories are available here.
New York
The latest satellite image of Lake Champlain was captured August 3 at unknown wind speed, a mostly clear image showing the widespread HABs in St. Albans Bay and Baie Missisquoi from 800 thousand to 1 million cells per 100 ml. Lake Carmi is caught in this image with a lakewide HAB high concentration 1 million cells per 100 ml, with a hot spot 2 million cells along the north shore. East of Shelburne Bay, likely Shelburne Pond in Vermont has lakewide HAB 2 to 3 million cells per 100 ml.
From the NYS DEC HABs reporting center, 196 HABs are confirmed on the active notifications board Sunday before noon, down from 197 Saturday. Finger Lakes region has been leading the charge this week with dozens of new HABs on each lake including Owasco, Otisco, Cayuga, Skaneateles, Keuka, Canandaigua and Seneca Lakes. See bluegreen tags on the map for the impacted water bodies with at least one active HAB, the full list of HABs is here.
California: The weekly HAB report for August 2 is posted with seven water bodies statewide posted with DANGER level advisories, including Lago Los Osos, Lake Chabot, Lake Anza, Discovery Bay, Contra Loma Reservoir, Big Break Regional Shoreline and Copsey Creek. Three water bodies are posted with HAB Warning level advisories, including Discovery Bay, Tahoe Keys and San Luis Reservoir's Dinosaur Point Boat Launch. Caution advisories are posted for another 31 sites. See the California HAB tracker report with advisories by watershed region, HAB DANGER and WARNING advisories are pinned to the map with bluegreen tags, the full list is here.
See the North American drainage basin map here, scroll all the way down to see how surface water moves across the continent into the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Arctic Oceans. WT Media Group tells the story of water in three countries, Canada, USA and Mexico. See the drinking water advisories, hazardous spills, floods, drought and harmful algal blooms plotted on the maps, as the water flows. Check out the CrimeBox for historic prosecutions under the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act box for details on public drinking water facilities, interviews with the scientists and tech developers on the leading edge of clean water technology 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.
Harmful Algal Blooms: 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 mph, 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. Plan beach access to avoid HABs and consider carrying a rapid test kit to detect the toxin microcystins.
US EPA Health Advisories for public drinking water specify the maximum threshhold for two common algal toxins, microcystins and cylindrospermopsins, liver toxins produced by cyanobacteria. Note these levels are health advisories, not legally enforceable regulatory limits. Two levels are identified, separating the population by age. The first level applies to pre-school aged children, the second level applies for those age 6 and up. The EPA health advisory gives the maximum level of toxin that would not produce negative health impacts over a ten day period. For microcystins, .3 ug/L under 6 yrs old; 1.6 ug/L for 6 and older. For cylindrospermopsins, the toxin associated with the HAB Aphanizomenon the level for preschoolers is .7 ug/L, for those 6 and up, 3 ug/L.
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