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MAHWAH — Darlington County Park will remain closed through Sunday, Aug. 17, as the harmful algae blooms in the water continue to be treated.
Darlington, the 127-acre recreation space that includes swimming lakes and is home to the Wibit Splash Zone, was shut down on Friday, Aug. 8, due to the algae. The park, at that time, was anticipated to be closed only for the weekend and was expected to reopen possibly on Aug. 11.
The swimming lakes in the park opened for the season on June 23 and were scheduled to remain open until Labor Day, Sept. 1. Fees cover access to the entire park during operating hours, including handball and basketball courts, catch-and-release fishing (New Jersey state fishing license required), biking and walking paths, picnicking and grilling.
"The Bergen County Parks Department regrets to inform you that the Darlington County Park will remain closed through Sunday, Aug. 17, as the department treats the algae bloom in the water," a Parks Department announcement said.
All swimming, Splash Zone and non-water activities will be unavailable during this time. Guests who purchased Splash Zone tickets online for this period will receive an automatic refund.
"We know how much our visitors look forward to summer days at Darlington, and we share your disappointment," the Parks Department said. "Our parks team is working diligently to address the issue and reopen the park as quickly and safely as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding."
What is an algae bloom?
Rain from last week mixed with high temperatures this week are likely to blame for the high algae blooms, said Meiyin Wu, director of the New Jersey Center for Water Science and Technology, the only state-certified testing lab for cyanotoxins in New Jersey, and a professor of biology at Montclair State University.
"When there's enough nutrients in the water, mixed with water runoff from the rain that hits the ground and picks up everything downstream, that's a lot of materials and nutrients that are food sources for algae to grow," Wu said.
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Although algae isn't the proper scientific term, it's most commonly used to describe different types of bacteria, Wu said.
During blooms, algae, which are typically microscopic, can be seen. "It grows together to form a cluster, like a pearl necklace. The algae grow right next to each other," she explained. "In a lake, if you see something that looks like seaweed or grass, that's green algae."
If the reopening happens too soon, the population and density of the bacteria can go up in a matter of days and cause the park to be shut down again, Wu said.
Algae are important to a healthy ecosystem in a lake and are food for fish, she said. "But when things are off balance and there are too many nutrients and temperatures are so hot, the balance gets shifted towards cyanobacteria."
Unlike just green algae, which can make swimming difficult and feel "slimy," the cyanobacteria can cause health impacts, Wu explained.
"The different bacterial strains can produce different types of toxins, which is all still a new science," Wu said. "Identifying the full health impacts to humans is still limited in understanding. There are still a lot of different toxins and compounds we haven't identified yet."
In the last few decades, new information on cyanobacteria has been documented to include the potential for death.
"That's why the [New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection] comes up with these health advisories to alert people of the high amount of cyanobacteria and to stay away from recreation, drinking or even eating fish from those waters," Wu said. "In any lake with an advisory, people should avoid for health consequences."
There are different ways to treat algae blooms, including physical and chemical options, Wu said.
Adding air or bubbles into the water to keep it moving can help, as can chemical treatments. But in the long term, Wu said, the only way to prevent algae blooms is to limit water runoff, stopping the overabundance of nutrients entering the water.
"Algae has a short life cycle and can come back in a couple of weeks, so the repeated and frequent use of chemical treatments is a concern for people like me who are monitoring the frequent chemical treatments," Wu said.