As chairman of the New York state Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, Sen. Pete Harckham is touring the state to hear about issues affecting fresh water, including harmful algal blooms.

“Water quality is a big issue, but it impacts people differently in different places. In Buffalo, it’s about money for infrastructure to separate combined sewers and storm waters. In many of the lake areas, it’s about Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) that endanger water supplies. In other places it’s lead pipes,” Harckham said.

Regarding HABs, Harckham said that there are plenty of municipalities that want to meet the challenge head on, but don’t have adequate resources.

“I think what communities are feeling is frustration because this is a problem all over the state and we don’t have a comprehensive approach as a state, as a toolkit, and that’s what municipalities are looking for,” he said.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation might take issue with that assessment. 

In 2018, New York state implemented a HABs initiative that directed over $65 million to combat HABs impacting and threatening drinking water quality and the recreational use of New York state lakes. Since then, “HABs Action Plans” have been developed for 13 waterbodies, including Owasco Lake, that identified factors fueling HABs. 

With the legislative session beginning in three months, Capital Tonight asked Harckham if he has heard anything on his listening tour that might translate into new legislation.

“We’ll be working on legislation regarding a comprehensive approach to Harmful Algal Blooms, looking at things like Alum, which local leaders would like to have in their toolkit,” Harckham said.

Currently, Alum is considered an herbicide by New York state. But according to the Environmental Protection Agency, it’s also an effective coagulant that can cause cyanobacteria “to settle down away from the top layer of the water body," removing phosphorus and algae from the water column.

While Harckham has already traveled to New York City, the Hudson Valley, the Adirondacks and Long Island, this week he is visiting central and western New York.

“This is how I build my knowledge base,” Harckham told Capital Tonight. “I like to travel and go out and meet with my colleagues and their constituents to hear what’s important to them.”