recently selected to be a member of one of the governor’s
steering committees that focuses on preventing and
responding to algae blooms. Photo courtesy of Fredonia
Campus Report.
COLIN HART
Special to The Leader
Dr. Courtney Wigdahl-Perry, a biology professor at SUNY Fredonia, has been selected for Governor Andrew Cuomo’s steering committee for combating harmful algal blooms (HABs) in several lakes throughout New York state.
Alongside a panel of nationwide experts, Wigdahl-Perry is scheduled to attend a summit meeting on Monday, March 26 at Monroe Community College, with the goal of implementing a long-term solution to prevent the outbreak of HABs. Governor Cuomo’s “Protecting New York’s Water Quality” plan was proposed in his 2018 State of the State Address, in which he budgeted $65 million toward the project.
Chautauqua Lake has been identified as one of the 12 priority lakes and is where Wigdahl-Perry will conduct her research. Specifically, the south basin of the lake is more susceptible to HABs due to its shallow depth and warmer temperature.
“Algae are a normal, healthy part of a lake,” said Wigdahl-Perry. “But human activities on the lake or around the lake can throw off the balance and then you end up with excessive growth. You can have too much algae. Depending on the species of algae, this can cause harmful blooms. Blooms are just a lot of algae growing all at the same time.”
A harmful algal bloom occurs when excess nutrients — most commonly nitrogen and phosphorus — are introduced to a lake ecosystem, causing algae populations to “explode.” This can cause public health concerns because of the toxins the algae excrete. Ingesting or coming into skin contact with the water can cause rashes or illnesses for humans, but has also been known to cause death in livestock and pets. When the blooms die off, they reduce oxygen levels in the water, which is especially harmful for fish.
“The real root cause is usually that too many nutrients are there,” explained Wigdahl-Perry. “There are other things that can come into play, like temperature, wind patterns and mixing of the lake. There’s more subtlety that happens, but the biggest influence by far is the amount of nutrients that are there.”
In turn, the main cause of excess nutrients is human activity.
“People contribute to the problem by having a lot of nutrients come in and are basically feeding the algae,” said Wigdahl-Perry, referencing runoff from lawn fertilizer, farming and septic systems that aren’t functioning properly. “The nutrients trigger the algae bloom. So it’s kind of a dual role — we pay attention to them because that’s where people are, but also because people are causing it.”
HABs are common among lakes throughout New York, with many naturally occurring in late August. However, they become problematic to the environment when they linger for months at a time. Aside from the toxins they release, large blooms also block sunlight from reaching fish and other plants. The HAB Initiative aims to protect ecosystems, while also improving the water quality for future generations.
However, the project is still in its early stages. The upcoming summit meeting will serve as more of a jumping off point, in which long-term solutions will be proposed. Although possible courses of action aren’t yet in place, Wigdahl-Perry is looking forward to the challenges and potential of this proposal.
“There’s not a simple solution,” she said. “It’ll take a lot of long, hard work. People aren’t always excited about that, they want rapid results. I think we just have to combine some of those short-term actions with long-term solutions, and that’s what this is about. How do you do that effectively? The challenge is just finding out the best strategy.”