Monitoring for harmful algal blooms underway

LAKE GEORGE | Local and state agencies are closely monitoring Lake George for harmful algal blooms that can be toxic to humans and animals, Lake George Park Commission Executive Director Dave Wick recently told area officials. Wick told county supervisors serving on the county's Environmental Concerns committee that every suspected harmful algal bloom (HAB) reported to the Park Commission prompts an investigation by his agency, and these incidences are reported to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Wick added that the Darrin Freshwater Institute in Bolton was also tracking and studying HABs. He said that with the summer arriving soon, his agency was ready to investigate HABs reported by area residents and visitors. Wick said that with average temperatures rising due to climate change, more and more HABs were expected to be found not only in Lake George but elsewhere. He noted that over the last 40 years, the average temperature of Lake George has increased 3.7 degrees, which he said was a "driving factor" in the presence of algae and aquatic growth along Lake George's shorelines. Stormwater runoff and effluent from inadequate septic systems also fed the growth of algae, he said, noting that increasing algae growth and HABs have occurred in Glen Lake. Wick noted that HABs look like a luminescent green "paint sheen" on the surface of lakes and ponds, and they tend to erupt in calm weather. "The number of lakes that have experienced HABs has been growing exponentially each year," Wick said. "It's interesting and terrifying at the same time." Such blooms of cyanobacteria can be toxic to people and animals, causing serious damage to organs — but HABs occurring in Lake George in the last three years have not tested toxic, he said. "Researchers don't know what converts cyanobacteria to become toxic," he said. Wick added that no rapid test for the toxicity of HABs presently exists, and it "wasn't feasible" to have each bloom tested. "Without rigorous testing, we're not able to tell whether a HAB is toxic or safe," he said. Environmental Concerns committee chair Claudia Braymer showed county supervisors a chart tracking HABs that was prepared by DEC. It indicated that in the last 11 years, HABs have been found in Friends Lake, Loon Lake and Schroon Lake in northern Warren County, as well as in Queensbury's Glen Lake. In Essex County, HABs have occurred in Lake Champlain and Lincoln Pond — and a harmful algal boom occurring in Lake Placid in 2015 was determined to be toxic. In Hamilton County, HABs have been confirmed in Eighth Lake, Raquette Lake and Seventh Lake, with suspected HABS found in other water bodies. The worst series of blooms in the region have occurred in Saratoga Lake, where about half of the HABS reported since 2013 have tested toxic, according to DEC. Queensbury at-large supervisor Brad Magowan expressed concern that he had seen HABs in Queensbury's Round Pond and Wilkie Reservoir, which have little or no developments nearby. "I was shocked to see harmful algal blooms there," he said of the two water bodies. Wick called such a phenomenon "a head-scratcher," prompting Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District Manager Jim Lieberum to suggest that such HABS could be solely due to warmer temperatures occurring in recent years. Glens Falls Ward 2 Supervisor Peter McDevitt said that the state should be stepping up with funding for identifying and curbing HABs in lakes and ponds in the region. However, he was pleased that the Park Commission and state DEC were tracking and investigating the reported algal blooms, considering the toxic "Red Tide" occurring often in Florida. Such blooms of the Karenia brevis alga are killing thousands of fish and threatening aquatic mammals and repelling tourists. "I'm impressed that we appear to be on top of the issue," he said.

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Monitoring for harmful algal blooms underway

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