5/6/2024
WT Staff
HAPPENING NOW
Drought relief for west Ohio
Severe drought grips Wills Creek watershed in east central state
Water news for Monday, May 6, 2024 1009 am EDT
Current streamflow situation provisional data from USGS streamflow monitors in Ohio
Normal to above normal streamflows have returned to most parts of Ohio over the weekend. Drought has eased off in the west. No part of west Lake Erie drainage basin is rated on the drought map Monday. South of the drainage divide, the Ohio drought map is down to one watershed remaining of the Great Miami Basin. Little Miami River watershed is still rated below normal Monday. Lower Scioto and Paint Creek watersheds are cleared from the drought map, the upper Scioto and Tygarts watersheds remain at the below normal rating.
A rating of severe hydrologic drought has struck the Muskingum River basin Monday claiming the Wills Creek watershed. Little Muskingum River watershed remains at moderate drought. Shade River and Raccoon-Symmes have eased from moderate drought to below normal. Upper Ohio Beaver Creek watershed is rated below normal. Hellbranch Run continue to run at an extreme low near Harrisburg. Ashtabula-Chagrin watershed has been cleared from the drought map. Black-Rocky, Grand and Cuyahoga Rivers watersheds remain below normal. Click here for more details.
Note low flows and drought are associated with higher water temperatures, a concentration of nutrients or contaminants and generally higher stress on the aquatic habitat, posing challenges for drinking water facilities and impeding recreational water quality.
WT USA Flows and Flood Tracker provisional data from the network of USGS streamflow monitors
Seventy-eight streamflow gauges record flooding in the USA Monday, down from eighty-four Saturday and ninety-three Friday. WT tracks the nation's most common natural disaster dynamics through the states of New York, Ohio, Georgia and Louisiana. As of this report, another new flooding has registered on the Louisiana streamflow network. There are currently seven active floodings on our radar, all recorded in Louisiana.
Region 4 watershed includes the area of Louisiana drained by the west boundary, Sabine River, running to the Gulf of Mexico. Sabine River has been flooding at various locations in the Louisiana channel since the end of January 2024. Last week just one station recorded flow above flood stage at the lower end near Ruliff, TX. Over the last few days, flooding has progressed upstream to the station near Bon Wier, TX and early Sunday morning flood stage was breached near Burkeville, TX. Also in watershed Region 4, Calcasieu River continues to flood, currently on the fifth overflow event of 2024, running close to two feet over the channel in the upper basin near Glenmora. Downstream near Kinder, Calcasieu River runs half a foot above flood stage. In watershed Region 1, Bayou Dorcheat and Bayou Bodcau continue to flood northwest Louisiana near Springhill and Shreveport, running nine inches over and six feet nine inches over the channels, respectively.
Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Monitoring based on satellite images from National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)
The latest image obtained from NCCOS for west basin Lake Erie was captured May 5 at a surface wind speed of 10.7 mph. The image is completely cloud obscured along the shorelines with no sign of HAB activity in the visible open water in this image. Click here for more information on Lake Erie HABs spotted in April.
As many drinking water facilities are supplied from surface water reservoirs, the streamflow situation is pertinent to both drinking water supply and quality. High flows can stir up sediment and cause turbidity in the reservoirs, requiring additional treatments to render the water potable. Low flow volume is linked to warmer temperatures in the reservoir and can be an issue for water quality where HABs are present. WT tracks streamflow trends with an eye to the impacts on drinking water supply and quality in each of the state's watersheds. Check the watershed layer on the map to see the direction of flow and streamflows that may be impacting drinking water today.
USGS Provisional Data Statement
Data are provisional and subject to revision until they have been thoroughly reviewed and received final approval. Current condition data relayed by satellite or other telemetry are automatically screened to not display improbable values until they can be verified.
Provisional data may be inaccurate due to instrument malfunctions or physical changes at the measurement site. Subsequent review based on field inspections and measurements may result in significant revisions to the data.
Data users are cautioned to consider carefully the provisional nature of the information before using it for decisions that concern personal or public safety or the conduct of business that involves substantial monetary or operational consequences. Information concerning the accuracy and appropriate uses of these data or concerning other hydrologic data may be obtained from the USGS.
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