Long Island weekly water quality report: Conditions improving

During the summer, a team of students and scientists led by Chris Gobler, professor of marine science at Stony Brook University and director of the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology, tests the water quality weekly at about 30 locations around Long Island. The result is the Long Island Water Quality Report, which aims to provide regular snapshots of ecosystem health, with an eye to how well the region's bays, harbors, rivers and inlets support robust fishing and shellfishing activity.

A good rating indicates clear water, adequate oxygen levels and no or low levels of algae or bacteria from human or animal waste, with levels of all parameters meeting or exceeding all state and federal water quality standards.

This week’s ratings are as follows:

GOOD: Port Jefferson Harbor, Mount Sinai Harbor, South Oyster Bay, western Great South Bay, Shinnecock Inlet, Mattituck Inlet, Little Peconic Bay, Great Peconic Bay, Sag Harbor

FAIR: Hempstead Harbor, Oyster Bay Harbor, Cold Spring Harbor, Huntington Harbor, Northport Harbor, Stony Brook Harbor, Hewlett Bay, Middle Bay, Fire Island Inlet, central Great South Bay, eastern Great South Bay, eastern Moriches Bay, Quantuck Bay, western Shinnecock Bay, mid-Shinnecock Bay, Peconic River, Three Mile Harbor

POOR: Forge River, central Moriches Bay — low dissolved oxygen, harmful algal bloom, poor water clarity; western Flanders Bay — low dissolved oxygen, harmful algal bloom