In 2021, the Division of Water Monitoring and Standards and Pesticide Control (DWMSPC) and the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC) recruited a team of lakes management and cyanobacterial HAB experts to address the second component of the Governor’s HAB initiative focusing on enhancing scientific expertise and building the state’s capacity for HAB response. The HAB Expert Team’s primary objective is to provide guidance to DEP on HAB prevention, mitigation and management for NJ lakes and other waterbodies. The team has compiled a comprehensive literature review as a resource guide available here: NJDEP | Harmful Algal Blooms | ET Resources(https://www.nj.gov/dep/hab/et-resources.html).As a culmination of their research, literature review, and data analysis, this Harmful Algal Bloom Lake Management Guidance provides details to lake managers on how to develop a lake-specific action plan.The Guidance includes HAB prevention, mitigation, and management for NJ waterbodies that considers short-term and long-term action plan components to characterize lake conditions and lake management actions as needed including:

• Lake Background: General description of the lake, lake watershed, water classification, designated uses, existing Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), and other pertinent information.
• Public Participation and Outreach: The importance of outreach, education, public participation and engagement to the success of a Lake Action Plan.
• Water Quality Monitoring and Lake Conditions: How to develop a monitoring plan to collect water quality data, including recommended parameters needed to monitor/assess current and changing lake conditions and trends.
• Identify Existing Data and Data Gaps: Sources of data including 303(d) List, Water Quality Portal and other sources. Describe any related community monitoring and the need for a QAPP to ensure quality of the data collected.
• Algae/HABs Summary: Overview of conditions which cause or contribute to HABs.
• • Information on identifying and quantifying sources of pollution in watershed.
  • Information on identifying water quality target or goal and pollutant reductions needed to achieve goal.
• Lake Management / Water Quality Goals:
  • Information on identifying BMPs and treatment options needed to achieve reductions to meet water quality goal/target and an estimated schedule to implement BMPs identified in plan.
  • The financial and technical assistance needed to implement BMPs.
  • The milestones and estimated time frames for the implementation of BMPs.
  • The criteria that will be used to assess water quality improvement as the plan is implemented.
  • The monitoring plan that will collect water quality data needed to measure water quality improvement.
  • Any lake management actions to date.
• Selection of Actions: Guidance for what processes to choose from and how best to select option(s) / activities list for HAB prevention, mitigation, and management. The detailed guidance incorporates relevant information/BMPs from the ITRC Strategies for Harmful Cyanobacteria Blooms (HCB) Communication, Prevention, and Management document. Additionally, other technical resources from EPA and USGS was reviewed and relevant BMPs included.