ROCHESTER, N.Y. — As the weather warms up and storms roll in, beaches across the country are temporarily closed due to the fluctuating bacteria rates. 

“High temperatures, rain and loading from the watershed you know that comes with that runoff are all important drivers of HABs,” New York State Department of Environmental Conservation research scientist Brian Duffy said.

What You Need To Know

  • Harmful algal blooms are the rapid growth of algae or cyanobacteria in water that can harm people, animals or the environment

  • According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, harmful algal blooms can look like foam, scum, mats, or paint on the surface of the water

  • They can also grow underneath the water, making some harmful algal blooms hard to see

  • New York has 67 state-owned swimming beaches and all are tested regularly to determine the public's risk of coming in contact with waterborne diseases

  • According to state officials, the beaches are tested at least once a week for bacterial levels of impaired water quality.

Many closures are related to bacteria from fecal waste and e.coli, while others are due to high levels of cyanobacteria, also known as HABs, that are found in freshwater.

“August, September tends historically to be the time of the season that we see spawning and certainly being reported most frequently across the state,” Duffy said. “One of the challenges to managing HABs is that they do form not only in water bodies with high nutrients, high phosphorus, but those with low phosphorus as well, such as the finger lakes.”

These blooms can pose a risk to human and wildlife health, forcing cities and local governments to treat drinking water and close beaches. HABs also harm vital local economies by preventing people from fishing, swimming, boating and visiting the shoreline. 

“We have a slogan, ‘Know it, avoid it, report it,’” Duffy said. “Avoid contact with discolored green, soupy blue green colored water regardless of the presence of toxins, Habs can still have health effects. Even if the toxins aren't present, they can have dermatological effects.”

Having any of these contaminants impact the thousands of lakes across New York state has left residents like Ivy Arzon concerned. 

“There's just like a lot of buildup of green, just like on the edge, which kind of just freaks me out,” Arzon said. “So I originally stopped letting her go into the water when I started seeing all that thick greenness to begin with. 

Arzon shares that she walks her pets daily along the shores of Lake Ontario. Noticing over time the green buildup occurring more during the summer season, Arzon has prevented herself and her animals to continue going into the water.

“I've been seeing around so many dogs getting so ill so quickly and especially in places like Rochester, there's not that many emergency vets,” Arzon said. “A lot of people are like an hour away. So it's just not something. It's just something you kind of just want to avoid overall.”

According to state officials, the waters are tested at least once a week for bacterial levels of impaired quality. However, with several recent reports of harmful algal blooms as an emerging contaminant, officials advise residents to check the water quality reports before heading out.

“With increasing awareness, we tend to have increasing reports of HABs,” Duffy said. “So we want folks to know what they look like. We'll take a look at those photos and coordinate with our counterparts at the Department of Health and the Office of Parks and Recreation. So we're really looking at how this kind of an emerging contaminant of concern.”

State Park beaches are closed when there is a known or anticipated risk to public health or safety. Beach signs will be posted and the public will be notified 18-24 hours after an elevated concentration of bacteria occurs. For updates on your beaches and lakes you can visit the New York State Parks' website.