I have archived the October 2022 Water Level Chart (at left). For the third month in a row we received more than the monthly average amount of rain, 1.6 inches more in fact. We’re now 2.72 inches ahead of the game having received 38.76 inches of rain to date. May, June, and July were the only months this year we’ve fallen short of the monthly average. It’s no surprise with all the rain that the lake level which had been below normal for much of the summer is back where it belongs this time of year, maybe even a little higher than usual. We’ll be drawing the lake level down as winter approaches.
The real news for October (as it was in September too) is the ongoing algae bloom. Back in September I was saying it was the “worst since 2013” but it has hung on all of October and it looks like it’s going to drag on into November as well, making this by far the worst and longest duration algae bloom event I can remember, and everyone I’ve talked to about it agrees. DEP is keeping an eye on it. I know I’m not alone in being concerned for our lake’s health and unhappy about the unpleasant green color of our water in late summer and fall and the green scum that has been washing up on our shores for the past two months.
So why did it bloom this year? I think the chart at left pretty much tells the story, and there is no need to get all technical about it: Lots of winter and early spring inflows washed Phosphorus into the lake. This was followed by 4 months of hot dry weather during which there were almost no lake outflows. Nonetheless from around the 1st of May until late August, the lake level fell steadily, losing 1.5 feet of water; this water loss represented a volume loss of almost 15% which is not insignificant. Virtually all the water loss was due to evaporation which concentrated the nutrients that algae feed on, most importantly, Phoshorus. While the ingredients for a bloom were there by the end of August, how the bloom has managed to hang on this long is still mystery to me as I thought it would have burned itself out after a few weeks. I’ll continue my analysis and post more about it at another time.