Abstract
Recent studies have shown that Lake Pontchartrain Estuary in Louisiana experiences frequent harmful cyanobacterial blooms (cyanoHABs). In 2019, the Bonnet Carré Spillway (BCS) that diverts Mississippi River water into the estuary opened twice in the same year for the first time in history to prevent flooding in New Orleans. Short-term water quality monitoring was conducted in shoreline areas with high public use for the presence of cyanoHABs and cyanotoxins to assess the public health risks. Field sampling methods and satellite imagery were used to determine water quality and quantify bloom intensity and toxicity across time and space. Long-term BCS opening created a fresh (salinity < 0.2) and nutrient-rich estuary that supported several cyanoHABs in warmer months during and after the second BCS closure. Cyanobacterial biomass ranged from 35 to 4972 µg PC L−1, while toxin microcystin ranged from undetected to 8.41 µg MC L−1. The highest biomass and toxin were detected on June 25 at the north shore, station LP8, Mandeville Beach, dominated by Microcystis and Dolichospermum species. CyanoHABs occurred mostly in the northern part of the estuary, where tributary discharge is also a strong influence. Some of these blooms exited the estuary and were transported to the Gulf of Mexico following passage through Lake Borgne and then Mississippi Sound. Modifications in the timing and duration of river diversion operations can create prolonged cyanobacterial blooms that can cause environmental and public health risks, especially in warmer months, and this may intensify due to a changing climate.
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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We sincerely thank the editor and reviewers for taking the time to review our manuscript and providing constructive feedback to improve our manuscript. We thank Quay Dortch for her scientific guidance and expertise about Lake Pontchartrain and the northern Gulf of Mexico and the NCCOS Event Response team of Quay Dortch, MaryKate Rogener, and Maggie Broadwater for their coordination of this organizationally complex response. Pontchartrain Conservancy field volunteers are acknowledged for collecting and transporting the samples to Dr. Bargu’s lab at Louisiana State University. Nicholas Lee and Laura Scott at Tulane University were also acknowledged for their assistance with laboratory analysis.
Funding
Funding was provided by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) HAB Event Response Program. This is NCCOS HAB ER publication #31.
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Bargu, S., Skaggs, B., Boudreaux, M. et al. Water Quality and Toxic Cyanobacteria in Oligohaline Estuary Beaches During the Longest Mississippi River Basin Flood Event in 2019. Estuaries and Coasts 46, 1865–1879 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-023-01247-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-023-01247-1