With blue green algae prevalent during the summer months in lakes and rivers nationwide, state officials in New York have adopted public notification protocols that have been successfully used in other affected regions.

According to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the Department of Environmental Conservation in the Empire State now has a website dedicated to cyanobacteria that includes a constantly updated list of waterbodies that contain algae levels that could be harmful to either humans or animals.

The site has two categories for any affected water; suspicious or confirmed. Both levels are intended to give the public an accurate diagnosis of any possible health risks associated with the algae and to inform residents of lakes that are under investigation.

"Suspicious" indicates that there may be a potential blooming of blue green algae within or on top of the water but that a visual description may not be enough to determine whether the blooms are toxic or not. The DEC will then begin water testing and the level will remain as suspicious until the results are confirmed by a regional toxicity laboratory.

If the results confirm the presence of cyanobacteria in the water, then the website recommends that humans and pets stay out of "any water that looks like spilled paint or pea soup or bubbling scum."

This is the first such algae awareness process adopted by the state of New York and follows a concerted effort by health officials to end the "hit and miss" notifications that have seen some New Yorkers suffer health problems in recent years after coming into contact with blue green algae.

The DEC and the state Department of Health took samples from 151 waterbodies in the region from 2009 to 2011 and they found microcystin, the cyanotoxin produced by the blooms, in 120 of them. Further studies showed that 41 of the samples tested had levels of the toxin that exceeded safety guidelines as determined by the World Health Organization.

The DEC website currently shows five lakes in the state with "suspicious" levels of potentially harmful algae blooms. The waterbodies under investigation that may involve algae removal techniques in the future are Hatch Lake, Loon Lake, Beaver Lake, Lake Waccabuc and Eagle Pond.

Due to the holiday this week, officials at the DEC could not be reached for comment on the new awareness initiative but as blue green awareness continues to grow, the need to keep the public informed is reportedly high on their list.

Posted on July 6th, 2012 under Lake and Pond Algae Control