the Garden State is about to enter some of our hottest weather yet this week which means more people will be turning to the shores and lakes for a little relief but as temperatures rise so does the amount of toxic bacteria blooming in our ponds and lakes prompt enclosures and warnings to swimmers Public Health experts say those Habs or harmful algal blooms can cause organ damage in humans and kill pets what's worse incidents are becoming more frequent thanks to a perfect combination of heat humidity and Rain leading storm water runoff often filled with fertilizers that feed bacteria to end up in bodies of water as senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports it's a problem that's likely here to stay we know what to look for so you look for that green slick in the water hope Jennings took a cool dip in Greenwood Lake despite the orange Hab or harmful algal bloom sign posted at her private beach club the gep advised swimmers that four locations around this Lake contain moderately risky levels of cyanobacteria and the toxins they produce they've posted photos and lab tests online green water laps at docks in some spots but the locals seem unfazed the water looks fine it's an advisory so I feel like I've been advised but I'm still going to do what I've been doing for 30 years which is swim in my Lake the lake seems pretty clean so people are swimming anyway yeah they're not paying attention to not so much because no one's really complained of any skin irritations the dep's current Hab map shows outbreaks across the state three High health risk warnings in red 35 moderate risk advisories in Orange 26 blue watches with milder Health impacts and 88 green not present results an advisory closes public beaches like Round Valley Reservoir but not necessarily those at private clubs folks went fishing at cozy Lake notwithstanding a red warning sign and pee green water with extremely high toxin counts the dep says jerseys trending towards another hot happy summer in 2022 our halves increased about 38 percent uh since the program began and we're on course for the kind of the same amount this year we're having similar weather rainstorms wash nutrients into lakes where they feed the algae climate change plays a role with warm Winters and hot summers encouraging growth this season creating perfect cab habitats for instant hydros Fred Loeb now agrees they rinse the land put all the nutrients in and they just sit there and cook we've seen cyanobacterial blooms going all the way into early December so not only are they larger but they're hanging out for longer periods of time which you know is problematic for a recreational Lake Princeton Hydro has started working with the Greenwood Lake commission they'll clear out the weeds look at the runoff that carries nutrients into the lake and examine the algae the bottom sediment are phosphorus Rich the salmon back tail will have more advantage of growing so it's more likely that we're going to see even worse hop in hot weather days algae love phosphorus says Montclair State researcher Mayan Wu she's been testing Greenwood like for algae and toxins since since 2016 a new million dollar dep Grant will help fund a three-year project to map out nutrient sources like Meandering weed choked belcher's Creek we have a lot of scientific data showing that belches Creek have been contributing lots of nutrient into the Greenwood Lake Greenwood Lake residents feel unfairly targeted by Jersey Hab advisories because it's a different story at the Lake's upper half located in New York my understanding is they haven't had any closures down the New York end but Greenwood's Jersey half is shallow where more prone to bloom for now businesses we spoke with aren't adverse impact on what happened at Lake Hopatcong in 2019 when Habs scared tourists away from marinas and restaurants that prompted changes in how the dep reports halves but it also galvanized Lake hopatcong's communities into using state grants to improve its storm water runoff and sewage systems one of the most important things we can focus on for had prevention is how we manage storm water and we have done quite a bit in the way of offering grants last month we offered 7 million and stormwater assistance grants the trick is to turn those grants into programs that keep the Lakes from turning green in Jefferson I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight news [Music]