Despite being in flood, water tests are looking fairly typical for the time of year, although if the water continues to flood in we will start to see nitrates and phosphates rise higher and this could increase the chance of an algal bloom.
Nitrate levels are 0.2 mg/L which is still more than 10x less than the levels recorded before the algal bloom in 2021 so not a cause for too much concern at the moment, but is something we need to keep an eye on. We are seeing a small rise in phosphates this year too (0.033 mg/L), again, probably because of the recent flooding. As the weed starts to produce new shoots they will mop this up.
Oxygen level are good (11.5 mg/L and 99 %, at 8 °C) and the fish are looking very active to start the new season. Hopefully, the rain will ease off over the coming week and we will see the waters recede. The water level gauge is at +5.4 now and the jetty is under water with water coming in from Brasenose.
If you are logged in as a member, more detail on the water quality readings can be found here.
