ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — CyanoHABs are cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms and have been referred to as blue-green algae. They naturally occur in our freshwater systems and typically are present in low numbers. However, under certain conditions, they can multiply rapidly and start to form these harmful blooms.
“They’ll be so much in the water, either near the surface or at the very bottom, that it discolors the water and the water can kind of look blue-green,” says Kate Ott, who is the public health director in Ontario County. “Typically when I think of blue-green algae I think of sort of that light green, almost shiny, typical paint-like film that you’ve seen in pictures of blue-green algae.”
Cyanobacteria thrives in an environment where there are a ton of nutrients present. This can then lead to the growth of cyanoHABS.
“We think there’s a variety of factors that are contributing to them,” says Lindsay McMillan, who is the association director of Canandaigua Lake Watershed Association. “One of which is that we have a changing climate quite frankly. This is bringing more intense precipitation events to our watersheds and with these intense rain events, we see polluted runoff in many cases.”