NOAA and its research partners are forecasting a moderate harmful algal bloom (HAB) in western Lake Erie this summer. The annual forecast, released June 25, projects the bloom could range from 3 to 4.5 on the severity index, placing it in the moderate category.<\/p>\n
\u201cToxic algae affect not only the health of people and Great Lakes ecosystems, but they can negatively impact local and regional economies by preventing people from fishing, swimming, boating and visiting the shoreline,\u201d said Nicole LeBoeuf, assistant administrator for NOAA\u2019s National Ocean Service. \u201cNOAA\u2019s Lake Erie harmful algal bloom forecast is designed to provide timely, science-based information to water managers and public health officials as they make decisions to protect their communities and visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n
NOAA expects to see a visible bloom by mid-July. The bloom\u2019s timeline will depend on the frequency of high winds in September, which cannot be predicted this far in advance. Most of the bloom will remain in areas of the lake\u2019s western basin. The central basin of the lake is usually unaffected until later in the season, although localized blooms may occur around some of the rivers after summer rainstorms.<\/p>\n
Researchers said this year\u2019s bioavailable phosphorus load, which fuels harmful algal blooms, increased following extreme weather events across the Maumee River watershed during April. Wet conditions throughout March and April resulted in greater-than-expected sediment movement, likely driven in part by increased erosion, as relatively little farming activity had occurred during that time.<\/p>\n
Heavy rainfall events largely bypassed northwest Ohio during May, however, and precipitation across the region remained near to slightly below normal. Those conditions helped limit additional phosphorus loading into the lake. Water temperatures in western Lake Erie are also currently running slightly below average.<\/p>\n
Lake Erie HABs are primarily composed of cyanobacteria, commonly referred to as blue-green algae, which can produce microcystin, a toxin that poses risks to both human and animal health. Elevated toxin levels can require additional drinking water treatment and may lead to beach advisories or closures.<\/p>\n
NOAA emphasized that bloom size does not necessarily indicate toxicity.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach algal bloom is unique in terms of size, toxicity and ultimately its impact on local communities,\u201d NOAA said in a statement. \u201cNOAA continues to develop new tools to detect and predict how toxic blooms will be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The HAB severity index is based on the amount of algae present during the bloom\u2019s peak 30-day period. Blooms with an index value greater than 7 are considered particularly severe and are characterized by extensive scum formation and persistent bloom coverage.<\/p>\n
NOAA plans to issue an updated seasonal forecast in late July after incorporating observed nutrient loads from the Maumee River watershed into the western basin of Lake Erie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NOAA and its research partners are forecasting a moderate harmful algal bloom (HAB) in western Lake Erie this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-228301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}