Monday June 23, 2025 Honeoye Lake Water Quality
- Terry Gronwall
- Jun 23
- 3 min read
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Monday June 23, 2025 Honeoye Lake Water Quality
Surface Water Temperature: ~76.5 F
Water Clarity: ~10.9 Feet
Lake Level: 803.2 Feet above sea level
Observations: Monday (6/23/25), Water clarity was ~10.9 feet an increase of 0.5 feet over the last week. The surface water temperature was ~76.5 F the about an increase of 8.3 F over the last week due to the very high air temperatures we have been having over the last few days. It was a sunny with light wind today. It was a very nice day to be out on Honeoye Lake.
We found increasing amounts of Gloeotrichia (lots of small spikes) and Anabaena (Dolchospermum) (looks like a spring or chain of beads). Also found Aphanizomenon (looks like a leaf) and Limnoraphis (looks like a rod) for the first time this summer. You should be watchful for Gloeotrichia, Anabaena, Aphanizomenon, and Limnoraphis blooms lake wide. These are all blue-green (cyanobacteria) algae species. We expect to see Gloeotrichia, Anabaena, Aphanizomenon, and Limnoraphis blooms over the next few weeks particularly when we have 80-90 F days with calm winds. See microscope pictures on left and below: More information on Gloeotrichia and Anabaena can be found at: https://www.honeoyelakewatershed.org/habs
Several research studies have found that most of the phosphorus that fuels Honeoye Lake’s blue-green algae blooms is released from the lake bottom sediments when the lake’s dissolved oxygen level goes below 0.5 mg/L in the deeper parts of the lake breaking the phosphors/iron bond in the bottom sediments releasing phosphorus into the water column. The dissolved oxygen (DO) level near the lake bottom at ~9 m (~30 feet) was 1.14 mg/L today. This means that phosphorus should not be released from the bottom sediments into the deepest part of the lake water at this time. Lake was stratified (i.e. had a thermocline) at ~6 m (~19.8 feet) deep. If we do not have a lake mixing event soon, we expect that the dissolved oxygen near the bottom will go anoxic (DO = <0.5 mg/L) soon releasing phosphorus from the bottom sediments potentially fueling a blue-green algae bloom. See temperature and DO graphs to the left.
The Curly Leaf Pond Weed is growing to the water’s surface in many areas of the lake now. Curly Leaf Pond Weed is an invasive macrophyte (Aquatic Vegetation) that grows to the water’s surface starting in late May and dies off naturally by late June or early July. Its leaves look like Lasagna.
We will not start making our blue-green algae surveillance runs until early July.
As of today, there has not been any public Honeoye Lake HAB reports submitted to the DEC HABs alert map (NYHABS) yet this year.
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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Click on the link below to see the Honeoye Lake Watershed Task Force 2025 Winter Newsletter:
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Please click on the link below to read the FLCC Muller Field Station April 2025 Newsletter and register for one of their winter events:
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All operators of motorized vessels, regardless of age, will need a boating safety certificate by January 1, 2025.
Click on the link below for more information and the schedule of local NYS Safe Boating classes:
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Click on the link below to see the Honeoye Lake Watershed Stormwater Toolkit:
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