8/5/2024
WT Staff
 August 5, 2024 updated 1045 am EDT
HAPPENING NOW
NWS: Flash flooding risk Tuesday, spotters on standby for activation
Hazardous Weather Outlook issued 448 am August 5 by NWS New York
There is a Slight Risk for Excessive Rainfall on Tuesday with expected isolated to scattered instances of flash flooding.
SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotter activation may be needed.
Impacting Northern Fairfield-Northern New Haven-Northern Middlesex-Northern New London-Southern Fairfield-Southern New Haven-Southern Middlesex-Southern New London-Western Passaic-Eastern Passaic-Hudson-Western Bergen-Eastern Bergen-Western Essex-Eastern Essex-Western Union-Eastern Union-Orange-Putnam-Rockland-Northern Westchester-Southern Westchester-New York (Manhattan)-Bronx-
Richmond (Staten Island)-Northwest Suffolk-Northeast Suffolk-Northern Queens-Northern Nassau Counties
WT HAB Tracker from state sources and where available, the satellite monitoring program of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
New York
The latest satellite image of Lake Champlain was captured August 4 at unknown wind speed, a clear image showing Baie Missisquoi HAB has inflamed to extreme high concentration once again, up to 2 million cells per 100 ml along the Canadian shoreline. The southward press of this HAB has also been turned up, the HAB creeping past Alburg-Swanton bridge once again. A widespread HAB in St. Albans Bay appears in the same position in the inner bay along shore matching the concentration color scale for around 600 thousand cells per 100 ml. Lake Carmi HAB a widespread HAB remains at extreme high concentration 1 to 2 million cells per 100 ml, with the hot spot 2 million cells along the north shore.
From the NYS DEC HABs reporting center, 190 HABs are confirmed on the active notifications board Monday morning, down from 196 Sunday. All reports made prior to July 22 have been archived. See bluegreen tags on the map for the impacted water bodies with at least one active HAB, the full list of HABs is here.
Lake Erie west basin: Ohio, Michigan
The latest satellite view from NCCOS was captured August 4 at a seldom seen condition, a surface wind speed 2.2 mph. This is a perfectly clear image of Lake Erie and Sandusky Bay HABs with a higher degree of certainty as to the position and full extent of the HAB area. The change from Saturday to Sunday is significant, especially in Maumee Bay State Park. The concentration of this widespread HAB has escalated from around the 600 thousand cells mark up to 3 million in the hot spot just off shore in the west half of Maumee Bay State Park. At the same time, the Ohio Department of Health recreational public health advisory for algal toxin has been rescinded for Maumee Bay State Park. As it takes many days between the water sample date and test results activating the public health notices, the satellite photo here indicates Maumee Bay State Park still has a serious HAB issue, this issue is observed escalating in near real time. In spite of the July 18 microcystins test being within the EPA safe guidelines for recreational water, expect the toxin level to change again in the direction of a new recreational public health advisory. Sandusky Bay HAB Aphanizomenon appears as dispersed open water mats holding the 500 to 600 thousand cells per 100 ml pattern. EPA guidelines for two common algal toxin are given below. See the last Ohio HAB report here.
Louisiana: The latest upload from the NCCOS was captured August 4 at wind speed 9.9 mph. This image is completely cloud obscured. The photo shot on Saturday August 3 was clear and taken at low wind speed. Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas appeared clear of HAB activity Saturday, or it could be the case that HAB activity is too low concentration to be seen. HABs were noted in Lakes Cataouache and Salvador, Lakes Verret and Palourde. The man-made pond near Burnside showed extreme high concentration over 2 million cells per 100 ml, matching the lakewide HAB in Wetland Watchers Park for severity. Keep pets leashed to avoid contact with these highly toxic ponds. See the full report 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.
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 taken July 1, 2024. As of this report, all St Simons Island and Jekyll Island beaches are shaded 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.
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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