Have you seen or heard of harmful algal blooms (HABs)? These toxic blooms of cyanobacteria can present a risk to those who use and enjoy Cayuga Lake!
In response to this water quality threat, the Cayuga Lake HABs Monitoring Program was developed by the Community Science Institute (CSI) in collaboration with the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network (CLWN) and Discover Cayuga Lake (DCL). Over the past three years our volunteer-led HABs monitoring program has provided essential HABs alerts and accurate laboratory results of bloom toxin levels in near-to-real time on our Cayuga Lake HABs Reporting Page. Data collected over the past three years is also serving to inform current and future HABs management strategies and is revealing patterns of bloom occurrence that are improving our collective understanding of how these blooms occur and the risk they present.
You can contribute to this important community program – sign up to become a HABs Harrier volunteer and help monitor HABs on Cayuga Lake in 2021! To sign up, please use the form below, or email CSI’s Cayuga Lake HABs Monitoring Program Coordinator.
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Please share this page with neighbors and friends who may be interested in becoming HABs Harriers!
Who can volunteer?
Anyone! Lakeshore homeowners and avid boaters and anglers are especially encouraged to participate! If you don’t live on the lakeshore or own a boat, don’t worry, we can work together to find a section of shoreline that you can monitor.
What does being a HABs Harrier entail?
- Attend a two-hour HABs identification and sampling workshop in June.
- Survey a length of shoreline once a week, mid-July through September.
- Collect HABs samples and transport them to CSI lab for further analysis.
- Be available to respond to HABs sightings reported by members of the public
What can I do if I can’t volunteer but still want to be involved?
- Learn about HABs and how to recognize blooms. Visit our Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring page for everything you need to know.
- Report suspicious algal blooms using CSI’s online Report a HAB tool.
- Ask the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network how to take the Lake Friendly Living pledge to help protect the health of our lake.
- Check out our recent Water Bulletin publications to learn about what we’ve found after monitoring HABs on Cayuga Lake for three years.
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