8/9/2024
WT Staff
 August 9, 2024 updated 657 pm EDT
HAPPENING NOW
NWS: Beach Hazard Advisory - rip currents all weekend, swimmers stay out
Coastal Hazard Message issued 401 am August 9 by NWS Cleveland
BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING...High risk of rip currents expected in Cuyahoga, Lake and Ashtabula Lakeshore Counties, in Pennsylvania, Northern Erie County. Wind and wave action will cause currents on the lakeshore. Swimmers should not enter the water. Currents can carry swimmers away from shore through a sand bar and along structures extending out into the lake. Remain out of the water to avoid hazardous swimming conditions.
Impacting Cuyahoga-Lake-Ashtabula Lakeshore-Northern Erie Counties
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 image from NCCOS was captured August 9 at wind speed 16.9 mph, a lovely clear view of the Lake Erie HAB approximately 8 miles by 17 miles in area, increasing in concentration. Several areas of hot spots have developed, the majority of the bloom now over 1 million cells with Maumee Bay State Park full length of beach appearing 2 million cells per 100 ml, the Maumee Bay west side edging up on 2 million cells, the North Maumee Bay area with another hot spot about the same. A recreational public health advisory had been posted July 19 for algal toxin found five times over the limit in Maumee Bay State Park. This advisory has since been rescinded by Ohio Department of Health, however the satellite image suggests beach-goers continue to exercise caution. EPA guidelines for two common algal toxin are given below. See the last Ohio HAB report here.
Georgia:
Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island beaches continue to meet the safety threshhold for bacteria Friday, the two permanent advisories for Jekyll Island also testing clear for bacteria in the last quarterly water sample taken July 1, 2024. As of this report, St Simons Island and Jekyll Island beaches are tagged in green, indicating water meets the safety guidelines for 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
Two hundred and thirty active HABs are confirmed in New York State Friday afternoon with the first bluegreen of the season confirmed in Lake Superior and Miller Pond. Four new HABs confirmed in Round Lake with second wave reports bringing back others from the archives. All reports made prior to July 26 have now been archived. See bluegreen tags on the map for impacted water bodies with at least one active HAB, updates are in progress as reports continue to come in. The list is here.
The latest image in from NCCOS was snapped August 8, this one mostly cloud obscured with very little of Lake Champlain visible. The Baie Missisquoi HAB is visible between clouds around the Alburg-Swanton bridge at an elevated concentration upward of 1 million cells per 100 ml. The situation has escalated in these last two images, the first new information received since August 4. The image of August 7 shows the expansion of a hot spot of extreme high concentration at the northeast shoreline, another at the center of the bluegreen bloom down the lake near Alburg Springs, up to 3 million cells per 100 ml. Widespread HAB south of Alburg-Swanton Bridge on the west side of North Hero Island is 1 million cells concentration. The south reach of this bloom observed Aug 7 west of North Hero Island shifting toward Isle la Motte. The widespread HAB in St. Albans Bay is expanding south past Melville Landing toward Grand Isle, holding the concentration at 600 thousand. Lake Carmi in Vermont is still full of phytoplankton according to the sat image, concentration 800 to 900 thousand cells per 100 ml.
Louisiana: The latest upload from the NCCOS was captured August 7 at wind speed 3.1 mph. This is a clear view of the southeast water bodies showing no HABs or too low concentration to visualize in Lake Pontchartrain, a large HAB forming in Lake Cataouache west half, and the Lac des Allemands widespread HAB in west bay lower in concentration than seen in the two prior images. Lakes Verret and Palourde appear as we have reported here over the last many weeks, lakewide blooms around 800 to 900 thousand cells per 100 ml. Water south of Lake Palourde carries a lakewide HAB up to 2 million cells in the north. The Burnside pond is still at extreme high concentration, 3 million cells. Keep pets leashed around these water bodies to avoid contact with high concentration HAB mats and scum, the likelihood of toxins is high in these conditions. See the full report here.
California: The new bluegreen bloom report is due this afternoon. Last week's Recent Bloom report dated August 2 featured seven water bodies 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 have been posted with HAB Warning level advisories over the last week, including Discovery Bay, Tahoe Keys and San Luis Reservoir's Dinosaur Point Boat Launch. Caution advisories have been activated 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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