Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring, Authority Response, and Recovery Program

Sources: [1], [3], [17]

A recreational advisory does not determine finished drinking-water status, and a public-water-system action does not determine recreational access. Human, pet, livestock, wildlife, and fish observations also have different reporting and assessment owners. Coordinate the tracks through shared event identifiers while preserving each authority's scope and protected information.

• Waterbody, shoreline and open-water areas, access points, jurisdictions, ownership, downstream connections, and source-water intakes mapped
• Recreation, drinking-water, subsistence, fishing, irrigation, livestock, wildlife, cultural, ceremonial, and ecological uses identified without assuming one status applies to all
• State, Tribal, territorial, local, public-health, drinking-water primacy and utility, animal-health, wildlife, fisheries, environmental, pesticide, emergency, and communication roles verified
• After-hours contacts, delegated authority, consultation, reporting system, laboratory, poison-control, veterinary, and emergency pathways tested
• Sensitive locations, private information, Tribal data, health and animal cases, intake security, and restricted infrastructure protected
• Current criteria, standards, advisories, plans, procedures, effective dates, adopted methods, and local status language retained

Sources: [4], [9], [13], [14]

• Historical blooms, taxa, toxin methods and panels, advisories, illnesses, animal cases, fish or wildlife events, taste and odor reports, and laboratory turnaround reviewed
• Nutrients and sources, temperature, residence time, stratification, mixing, clarity, hydrology, inflows, sediments, water level, weather, and climate context recorded as candidate drivers
• Recreation intensity, animal access, source-water intake configuration, downstream users, sensitive populations, communication needs, and monitoring inequities considered
• Routine, enhanced, event, confirmation, reopening, recovery, and no-sample observation states defined under current authority procedures
• QAPP, SAP, SOP, laboratory, bottles, shipping, holding, staffing, PPE, access, communications, signs, barriers, and backup capacity checked
• Tabletop scenarios cover a weekend report, inaccessible site, observation-only direction, delayed laboratory result, conflicting methods, human or animal exposure, intake concern, treatment proposal, and unclear reopening state

Sources: [7], [3], [12], [18]

Use fixed, targeted, mobile, intake, shoreline, open-water, depth, and event stations only where their represented population and decision use are explicit. NOAA's Lake Erie forecast is an example of a region- and system-specific operational product; it is not a general forecast for another lake. EPA CyAN products are screening evidence with documented waterbody, surface, pixel, algorithm, and quality limits, not public-health determinations.

Sources: [8], [7], [19], [18]

1. 01

   Protect people and animals first

   Follow the current authority's exposure-control and access procedure; do not enter or create aerosols to improve a photograph or obtain a sample.

2. 02

   Create the event identity

   Record reporter and receiving channel as permitted, time and time zone, stable location, affected use, observation type, photographs, weather, wind accumulation, extent, access status, prior events, and related incident IDs.

3. 03

   Screen parallel urgent tracks

   Route possible human or animal exposure, source-water intake concern, fish or wildlife mortality, spill, sewage release, dangerous gas, and unsafe access through their named procedures.

4. 04

   Obtain the authority branch

   Record whether the procedure directs observation only, remote review, field assessment, sampling, immediate public action, another investigation, or no further action for the cited scope and time.

Sources: [1], [3], [13], [14]

EPA describes immunoassay, chromatographic, mass-spectrometric, molecular, and other approaches with different selectivity and performance. A field screen, ELISA response, targeted LC/MS result, microscopy count, or gene detection must retain its own method and interpretation. Do not convert among methods, fractions, congeners, gene targets, cells, pigments, or toxin groups unless the approved program provides a validated rule.

• Decision and authority branch identify targeted exposure, representative condition, intake operation, trend, extent, confirmation, reopening, recovery, or other use
• Station and targeting rule distinguish scum or accumulation, shoreline exposure, open water, depth-integrated water, discrete depth, intake, downstream, or reference sample
• Identity, cells, genes, pigment, toxin, taste-and-odor, nutrients, oxygen, or other requested evidence linked to a stated question
• Toxin analyte or group, congeners or assay response, total/dissolved/intracellular/extracellular or other fraction, extraction or lysis, preparation, method, units, reporting limits, and known cross-reactivity or coverage recorded
• Laboratory, location, method capability, current certification or accreditation scope when required, containers, preservation, chilling or freezing, light protection, holding, shipping, custody, and turnaround confirmed
• Field duplicates, equipment or source-water blanks when applicable, splits, laboratory controls, spikes, surrogates, reference materials, dilution, matrix interference, and corrective rules predeclared
• Unique event, station, sample, container, cooler, laboratory accession, batch, result, validation, and authority IDs reconciled

Sources: [2], [7], [12]

• Planned and actual site, depth, targeting rule, time, matrix, fraction, sample identity, custody, holding, and laboratory receipt reconciled
• Observation and image provenance, satellite product date and quality, sensor calibration and fouling, and microscopy or molecular method controls reviewed where applicable
• Toxin analyte or assay target, extraction, method, unit, reporting and detection limits, qualifiers, cross-reactivity, dilution, matrix effects, blank and batch QC retained
• Invalid, rejected, estimated, censored, conflicting, missing, and superseded evidence remains visible with corrective actions
• Spatial and temporal support, wind transport, patchiness, sampling bias, inaccessible areas, and uncertainty stated
• Field completeness, laboratory acceptance, verification, validation, fitness for use, authority interpretation, public release, and amendment separately attributed

Sources: [12], [2], [10]

CDC's One Health Harmful Algal Bloom System is a public-health surveillance system with designated reporters; it is not a substitute for immediate local notification or a general public case-entry form. Retain OHHABS or other reporting references only through the authorized health or partner workflow.

Sources: [17], [14], [15], [16], [9]

• Exact authority-issued status, affected area, uses and activities, effective time, issuer, authority reference, conditions, and next review displayed
• Observation, sampling, result, validation, authority-decision, publication, and update times visibly distinct
• Human, pet, livestock, drinking-water, fishing, irrigation, and other action language included only when approved for that audience and scope
• Known observations and validated evidence separated from unknown identity, untested toxins, unrepresented areas, pending results, and unresolved causes
• Signs, barriers, websites, alerts, social media, partner messages, maps, translations, accessible formats, and offline channels synchronized
• Rumor, duplicate reports, corrections, expired notices, lifted status, archives, screenshots, and superseded public products controlled
• Health, veterinary, utility, environmental, and next-update contacts supplied without exposing private or sensitive information

Sources: [4], [5], [3]

Cell disruption can change the distribution of intracellular and extracellular toxins, while bloom decay can affect oxygen and other water-quality conditions. These are reasons for qualified authority, laboratory, engineering, applicator, and operational review, not a treatment recipe. Preserve no-action, delayed-action, pilot, source-control-first, and rejected options with their consequences and uncertainty.

Sources: [6], [3], [10], [11]

• Eligibility finding, authority, permit, order, approved plan, complete label where applicable, design, owner, operator, applicator, contractor, area, time window, holds, and expiration retained
• As-found conditions, public status, bloom distribution, toxin and oxygen evidence required by the plan, weather, water level, downstream and intake context documented
• As-approved and as-performed material, lot, equipment, settings, area, start/stop time, sequence, quantity, deviations, personnel, custody, and records reconciled without supplying a recipe
• Stop-work, spill, drift, off-target transport, fish or wildlife effects, oxygen change, exposure, equipment failure, complaint, unexpected bloom movement, and emergency notifications linked
• Immediate, short-term, and delayed target and adverse monitoring collected only under the approved plan and validated before use
• Contractor completion, authority inspection, remaining restrictions, waste or container handling, corrective action, and handoff documented

Sources: [3], [12], [9], [11]

Use the responsible authority's current lifting or reopening process, not a generic count of samples, elapsed days, visual clearing, pigment decline, or one nondetect. Preserve the evidence population, methods, fractions, panels, represented area and period, qualifiers, authority decision, effective time, conditions, and enhanced follow-up.

Recovery and effectiveness designs should allow positive, null, adverse, mixed, and inconclusive results. Consider bloom relocation, unmeasured toxins, oxygen stress, fish or wildlife effects, source persistence, weather and hydrologic differences, monitoring changes, treatment fidelity, downstream effects, and recurrence after the formal event ends.

Sources: [7], [4], [5], [10]

1. 01

   Reconcile the event

   Join reports, observations, samples, laboratories, validation, notifications, authority decisions, public messages, implementation, incidents, reopening, recovery, costs, complaints, and corrections by stable identifiers.

2. 02

   Review performance and equity

   Evaluate missed and false triggers, unsafe or inaccessible sites, laboratory and notification delays, message reach, translations, animal and intake coordination, privacy, monitoring gaps, and contractor or authority handoffs.

3. 03

   Update the conceptual model and prevention record

   Reassess nutrient and hydrologic sources, internal processes, food-web and habitat context, weather and climate, source controls, competing hypotheses, lag times, and evidence needed before recommending action.

4. 04

   Release and adapt

   Publish only the approved version with status times, evidence scope, uncertainty, authority attribution, protected-location and case controls, supersession links, unresolved questions, next owner, and review date.

• Raw, corrected, validated, authority-issued, and public versions retained without overwrite
• Observation-only events remain visible and are not recoded as toxin nondetects or safe conditions
• Source-control, watershed, infrastructure, monitoring, emergency-plan, laboratory, training, and communication actions assigned with owners and dates
• No trend, recurrence, cause, treatment effect, or prevention success claimed without comparable evidence and uncertainty
• OHHABS or other health surveillance reporting remains within authorized health-partner channels
• Next seasonal readiness review and independent technical review state published

Sources: [6], [18], [16], [12]