WATER QUALITY UPDATE for July 30, 2021
Welcome to your Friday Water Quality Update. This week, we are happy to share there were no blooms reported by volunteers or watershed staff.
We have been observing a steady decrease in the weekly average water clarity throughout the month of July, as reported by Secchi Disk volunteers. This summer’s rain events, combined with the natural progression of the phytoplankton community in the lake, mean that clarity has decreased as we have seen an increase in suspended / dissolved materials and a natural increase in algal production. Volunteers provide weekly readings from 17 locations around the lake, giving us a good assessment of overall lake clarity. Individual readings submitted so far this week seem to indicate that clarity is improving, getting back up into the 6 meter depth from 4-5 meters in recent weeks.
We thank our wonderful volunteers for providing these readings, as clarity is an important assessment tool which may indicate an upcoming bloom event.
As shared in last week’s update, we may continue to see duckweed and watermeal at locations around the lake, as rain events flush these tiny aquatic plants from the West River and other tributaries. Duckweed and watermeal can easily be mistaken for a harmful algae bloom (HAB). See last week’s update for further information and photos.
As we head into August, we welcome the official start date of the Volunteer Shoreline Harmful Algae Bloom Monitoring Program on Monday, August 2nd. Starting next week, HABs volunteers will be providing weekly reports on the algal activity in their designated shoreline zone. This summer, we are thrilled to have the assistance of 71 volunteers! Each volunteer has been trained to identify blooms and report their findings using an online portal developed by our friends at Seneca Lake Pure Waters that will make real-time HABs information available to the public on the CLWA website. This information will also keep you aware of the water’s conditions via our Friday email updates.
Please continue to use your visual indicators to look for signs of active bloom conditions. As recommended by the DEC, if you see it, avoid it.
Volunteers and watershed staff will be continuing daily observations throughout August and September and we will communicate any significant changes in bloom activity through our weekly email updates, on our website, and on the Association's facebook page. To report suspicious blooms, use HABS@canandaigualakeassoc.org. This email address is monitored by CLWA and Canandaigua Lake Watershed Council staff.
Enjoy your weekend!
