Surface Water Temperature: 80.4 F
Water Clarity: 16.8 Feet
Lake Level: 803.1 Feet above sea level
Lake Level Relative to Weir: -0.4 Feet
Observations: Monday (7/27/20), lake is in excellent condition for late July. There was only very light Gloeotrichia (blue-green algae) visible in the water column. We did not see any surface algae scum in near shore areas. Gloeotrichia is an early summer species of blue-green algae that gets its nutrients directly from the bottom sediments during the winter and spring. https://www.honeoyelakewatershed.org/habs
Water clarity has increased over 7 feet to 16.8 feet since last week. This is about 2X higher than we usually see in mid-July (Water Clarity ~8 Feet). Surface water temperature increased almost 1 degree to 80.4 F.
The lake is now strongly stratified and the water near the bottom below the thermocline has very low dissolved oxygen (anoxic). This means that the phosphorous/iron bond in the bottom sediments will weaken releasing phosphorus into the water near the bottom. The next time we get a North or South wind of 20+ MPH we may have a lake mixing event that will mix this phosphorus into the whole water column top to bottom providing fuel for a blue-green algae bloom.
Always use your own visual assessment before making contact with the lake water at this time of year as the blue-green algae situation can change daily if not hourly. Please regularly check the DEC HABs alert map for more detailed updates on Honeoye Lake HABs alerts:
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