2021 Weekly Cyanobacteria Emails to the Community

Thank you for signing up to receive the Lake Champlain Committee (LCC)Cyanobacteria monitoring reports! Monitoring began this week and will run through early fall. Each week we’ll send you an update about conditions monitors are finding around Lake Champlain and several inland lakes. This week’s report covers conditions from Sunday, June 20 through early-afternoon on Friday June 25. While our first report of the season was of a cyanobacteria bloom in one section of Missisquoi Bay on June 20, the vast majority of reports we’ve received to date indicate generally safe conditions.

While we received some reports of low alert cyanobacteria conditions on Lake Champlain and Lake Carmi, the majority of monitors observed generally safe conditions during this second week of the 2021 monitoring season. The cyanobacteria datatracker is populated with lots of green dots again this week. Yay!

Although generally safe conditions still dominate on the cyanobacteria datatracker, blooms showed up in several sections of Lake Champlain and Lake Memphremagog this week. 

Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) and community monitors filed a total of 246 reports this week as blooms showed up in a host of Lake Champlain shoreline and inland lake locations. Escalating temperatures spurred cyanobacteria growth that closed beaches at several lakeshore communities. Keep a close watch on the water as well as shoreline areas whenever you’re recreating. In this low water year, we are seeing ponding on some of our beaches which are also prone to blooms as depicted in photos found here.

Another busy week of monitoring with variable conditions up and down Lake Champlain. While most monitors reported generally safe conditions at Lake Champlain and inland waterway monitoring sites, low and high alert blooms were in evidence too. Lake Champlain’s St. Albans Bay, Inland Sea, Malletts Bay, Main Lake North, Main Lake Central, and Main Lake South, along with Indian Brook Reservoir and Lake Carmi, all experienced cyanobacteria blooms. Some public beach locations ping ponged back and forth between opening and closing throughout the week.

Happily water conditions improved significantly this week! Roughly 85% of the Lake Champlain reports and 94% of inland waterway reports showed generally safe conditions. Cyanobacteria sitings were restricted to Lake Champlain’s St. Albans Bay, Inland Sea, and Main Lake Central, along with Lake Carmi and Muckross Pond. The Week 6 compilation of results includes reports through 2:00 PM on Friday, July 30.

We had many clear water reports early in the week but conditions changed in some areas as the temperatures rose and the air stilled later in the week. A bloom took off in St. Albans Bay, and alert conditions were witnessed elsewhere on Lake Champlain, Lake Carmi, and Lake Memphremagog. Nutrients, temperature, and still conditions will all help blooms develop, flourish, and persist. The high temperatures predicted for much of next week could cause blooms to take off. So, it’s a great time to attend the 8/12/21 9 AM to noon virtual Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) Training session via Zoom to learn how to recognize, avoid, and report cyanobacteria. Sign up here if you’d like to attend for educational purposes and use this online form if you’d like to join our 2021 cyanobacteria monitoring team. 

Cyanobacteria monitors kept us busy again this week with 136 Lake Champlain reports and 43 from inland waterways. Blooms occurred in the Lake Champlain’s Inland Sea, Main Lake North, Malletts Bay, and St. Albans Bay as well as Indian Brook Reservoir and Lake Carmi as of this writing. 

Happy Friday! Lots of green dots populated the cyanobacteria tracker this week and reports of clear water, non-filamentous green algae, and iron bacteria dominated over cyanobacteria in most areas. However, we did have cyanobacteria bloom reports from Lake Carmi and Lake Morey as well as Lake Champlain’s Inland Sea and low and high alert conditions at several St. Albans Bay sites as of today (8/20/21). Please keep a watchful eye on the water as conditions can change rapidly.

Cyanobacteria Monitors filed over 240 reports this past week as blooms popped up or persisted in numerous locations on Lake Champlain and several inland waterbodies. Lake Champlain’s Inland Sea, Main Lake Central, Main Lake South, Missisquoi Bay, South Lake, and St. Albans Bay all experienced blooms as did Chittenden Reservoir, Lake Carmi, Lake Iroquois, Lake Memphremagog, and Shelburne Pond.

Windy, cooler weather helped improve water quality conditions during this eleventh week of monitoring. While generally safe conditions prevailed at most locations, cyanobacteria was reported at Lake Champlain’s Inland Sea, Missisquoi Bay, and St. Albans Bay as well as Lake Carmi and Lake Memphremagog.

Generally safe conditions prevailed at most locations again this week but cyanobacteria was reported at Lake Champlain’s Main Lake Central, Main Lake South, Missisquoi Bay, St. Albans Bay, and South Lake and at Lake Carmi and Lake Memphremagog.

Although generally safe conditions dominated the cyanobacteria tracker again this week, we received reports of cyanobacteria from all Lake Champlain regions except the South Lake and Malletts Bay. Monitors also logged in bloom reports for some sites on Lake Carmi and Lake Memphremagog. Click here for details on this week’s reporting and here to learn more about the band of cyanobacteria hugging Isle La Motte’s west shore on 9/16/21.

Fewer reports are flowing in as we move into fall, park staff leave posts, and seasonal residents close up camps. However, late season blooms are not uncommon so please keep checking conditions whenever you recreate in or around water.

Clear water dominated on the cyanobacteria tracker during this first full week of fall and the 15^th week of the cyanobacteria monitoring program. Most monitors who are still able to report recorded safe conditions, great for late-season recreation. Cyanobacteria was reported at one site each in Lake Champlain’s Main Lake Central and Main Lake South sections and several times during the week at Lake Carmi.

Unfortunately, this was a big week for blooms—reports of cyanobacteria were chronicled at all Lake Champlain sections except the South Lake and Malletts Bay. Blooms expanded in many areas of Lake Memphremagog and were reported on Lake Carmi and Lake Iroquois. You can get a sense of the impact of a bloom by watching this video taken on 10/6/21 by Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge Manager Ken Sturm. Ken and his team witnessed an extensive swath of dense cyanobacteria in Missisquoi Bay during a 20-minute boat ride from the east delta all the way around to Long Marsh Bay.

Unfortunately, this was another big week for blooms—with reports of cyanobacteria coming in from all sections of Lake Champlain except Malletts Bay, Missisquoi Bay, and the South Lake. Blooms were also reported from Clyde Pond, Lake Carmi, Lake Iroquois, Lake Memphremagog, and Shelburne Pond. We have fewer monitors watching the water at this time of year but blooms can still show up as evidenced by the reports and photos compiled from this week. Please use the resources and links in this email to learn how to recognize, avoid, and report cyanobacteria.

While color is fading on the hillsides, it unfortunately is still showing up in the water. October 20 was a particularly busy day for cyanobacteria sightings with blooms reported at a scattering of locations up and down Lake Champlain. Scroll through this email to view pictures of the conditions witnessed at Arnold Bay, Burlington beaches, Island sites, St. Albans Bay, and Lake Memphremagog during this 18^th week of cyanobacteria monitoring. You’ll also find some visuals and details about duckweed, water samples rimmed with cyanobacteria, and resources and links to help you recognize, avoid, and report cyanobacteria.

Most monitors reported generally safe conditions during this 19^th week of the monitoring season but blooms were also witnessed at select locations.

In sun and rain, heat and cold, monitors collectively filed over 2,700 reports during the 2021 season. In the links and photographs below you’ll find our last weekly report compilation for 2021; see a late season bloom at Arnold’s Bay; learn what a difference a day can make; view water samples of cyanobacteria and clear water conditions; witness beach beauty, autumn glow at Isle LaMotte, late season lake beauty, and a Lake Memphremagog sunset; and catch the LCC Team raising a glass as we close out the 2021 monitoring season.