On July 2, 2019 the State of New Jersey’s Governor’s Office and Department of Environmental Protection provided an update on the status of their harmful algal bloom advisory to local officials and groups, including the Lake Hopatcong Commission and Lake Hopatcong Foundation. The full update from DEP is provided below.
“The Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) advisory for Lake Hopatcong remains in effect.
The DEP is advising the public avoid recreational or primary contact with the waters of Lake Hopatcong until further notice. Recreational exposure can occur while swimming, wading and during watersport activities such as jet skiing, kayaking, wind-surfing and paddle-boarding. People also should not eat fish caught in the lake or allow pets to come in contact with lake water or drink the water.
The NJDEP has been monitoring Lake Hopatcong regularly since the HAB first appeared. The department, in addition to collecting water samples, is conducting aerial surveillance to determine the severity and extent of the HAB. Water samples from nine locations taken on 6/28 indicated that cell counts for the cyanobacteria are well above the NJ Health Advisory trigger of 20,000 cells/ml. Samples were collected again yesterday, July 1, at bathing beaches and other sampling sites throughout the lake. Water at all the beaches was a dull green/brown with what appeared to be algae widely dispersed and in suspension. Results from this round of testing will be shared tomorrow. Additional samples are being collected lake wide today and results will be available tomorrow. Aerial surveillance is scheduled for tomorrow 7/3 and will continue every Wednesday through the fall.
The NJDEP is continuing to monitor the situation and will provide updates as test results are available.”
For additional information on HAB’s please refer to the DEP website at https://www.nj.gov/dep/hab/.