Busan has issued the year's first "watch"-level algae alert for the waterfront area of the Hwamyeong Water Sports Town on the Nakdong River. The alert came more than a month earlier than last year as blue-green algae surged amid a heat wave and reduced water flow.
The city said it issued the "watch"-level alert under its algae alert system for the Hwamyeong Water Sports Town site as of 3 p.m. Tuesday.
The alert followed water quality surveys conducted on June 29 and July 7, which found harmful blue-green algae cell counts of 22,508 per milliliter and 22,177 per milliliter, respectively, exceeding the "watch" threshold of 20,000 cells for the second consecutive time.
The city attributed the sharp increase in blue-green algae to recent high water temperatures and reduced water flow, which created favorable conditions for algae growth. This year's first algae alert for the waterfront area came about 50 days earlier than late August last year.
Under the algae alert system, a "watch" is issued when blue-green algae cell counts exceed 20,000 per milliliter twice in a row, and a "warning" when they exceed 100,000. If the cell count exceeds 500,000 per milliliter even once, the alert is immediately raised to "warning."
Along with the alert, the city plans to install banners in the Hwamyeong Ecological Park area requesting that people refrain from water sports activities as well as fishing and the harvesting and consumption of fish and shellfish, and to strengthen public announcements and on-site patrols.
To ensure the safety of residents' waterfront activities, the city has been piloting the waterfront-area algae alert system at the Samrak and Hwamyeong Water Sports Towns since last year.
"Until the algae alert is lifted, please refrain from water sports activities, fishing, and the consumption of fish and shellfish around the Hwamyeong Ecological Park," said Shim Jae-min, head of the city's Environment and Water Policy Office. "We will make citizen safety our top priority and strengthen our response to algae outbreaks and on-site management."
