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Terry Gronwall

Monday May 31st, 2021 Honeoye Lake Water Quality

Updated: Jun 4, 2021

Surface Water Temperature: 64.6 F

Water Clarity: 21 Feet

Lake Level: 803.2 Feet above sea level

Lake Level Relative to Weir: -0.3 Feet


Observations: Monday (5/31/21), The water clarity has remained constant over the last week at 21 feet and the surface water temperature has decreased ~5 degrees Fahrenheit due to colder weather. There was no visible algae in the water column this morning. The lake is stratified at 20 feet. This is very early in the season for the lake to be stratified. We will be collecting and posting water quality data weekly now.


I received this question Friday morning; "What are the implications or impact of the lake being stratified this early? ". When a lake stratifies and forms a thermocline the decaying organic matter, dead algae and weed fragments, on the lake bottom consumes dissolved oxygen in the water below the thermocline. When the dissolved oxygen has been completely consumed the phosphorous iron bond in the bottom sediments becomes weak releasing legacy phosphorus into the water near the bottom sediments. Then when there is a lake mixing event this bottom water containing excessive amounts of phosphorus is mixed with the whole water column fueling a blue-green algae bloom. The earlier the lake stratifies the earlier this process starts increasing the total amount of legacy phosphorus released from the bottom sediment during that year's summer stratification period.


We did not see any signs of blue-green algae, tree pollen, or diatoms today. The lake looked great for all the recreational lake users and fisherman out on the lake today!

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 this link for "2021 Honeoye Lake Aeration Engineering Planning Project"


- The NYSDEC has recently released a new report “Feasibility Assessment of Harmful Algal Bloom Management Options for Honeoye Lake and Conesus Lake” as a follow-up to their 2018 Honeoye and Conesus Lake HABs Action Plans. Click on the link below to see report:

This report evaluates various techniques for mitigating Harmful Algae Blooms in Honeoye Lake by preventing the release of legacy phosphorus from the lake bottom sediments.


- Click on this link for HLWTF Winter newsletter: e6fc30_ef8d01223f42408ba11b3a7a5f83bebe.pdf

- Click on this link for "2020 Water Quality: What, Why, What's Next"

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Steve Bintz
Steve Bintz
04 de jun. de 2021

What are the implications or impact of the lake being stratified this early?

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