7/20/2024
WT Staff
 HAPPENING NOW
Saturday, July 20 2024
Nelsonville BWA
July 20, 2024 updated 238 pm EDT
Drinking Water Advisories
Athens County: Nelsonville issued a precautionary BWA following a line repair Thursday. Addresses on Myers Street and Jackson Street from Watkins to De Steiguerd, Watkins Street from Jackson to Polley Field were impacted by the boil order, which ends today.
Streamflow Situation from the network of monitors of USGS GA Water Science Center
Six sites post low streamflow ratings throughout Ohio state Saturday morning including two extreme low 1st percentile and a handful of 2nd percentile values. The Ohio River is recorded extreme low near the dam at Greenup, KY, Olentangy River in the Scioto Basin is likewise recording the 1st percentile. As of this report, no active flooding is recorded, no high flows. The drought map has shifted in central Ohio, Scioto basin Paint Creek watershed is no longer in moderate drought, downgraded to below normal. Much of the Muskingum River watershed is rated below normal with Wills Creek watershed in moderate drought. Little Muskingum watershed is rated below normal. Ohio River tributaries Little Beaver Creek, Racoon-Symmes, Brush-Whiteoak watersheds are rated below normal on the drought map, Laughery watershed being in moderate drought.
WT HAB Tracker from state sources and where available, the satellite monitoring program of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
Ohio: The latest image of Lake Erie west basin is perfectly clear, captured at a low wind speed enabling us to see the massive Lake Erie HAB at the surface, stretched out to its full extent from Maumee Bay to the northwest shore, into the lake beyond West Sister island and along the Ohio shoreline in a dense band 2 miles wide from Maumee Bay State Park to the Turtle Creek and Turtle Point Marina. The majority of this mass matches concentration color scale for 400 to 600 thousand cells per 100 ml with a small hot spot found near shore in North Maumee Bay reaching 1.5 million cells per 100 ml. Inner Maumee Bay continues to appear HAB free, maintaining approximately 2 miles of clearance from the Maumee River outlet to the south edge of the bloom mass. The lakewide Sandusky Bay bloom hangs on at 700 thousand cells per 100 ml from Pickerel Point to Cedar Point. We see an area of HAB free water bayside of Cedar Point; lakeside of Cedar Point the shoreline is blanketed with a mile wide band of low concentration HAB around 50 thousand cells per 100 ml. The last Ohio HAB report is available here.
New York
The latest upload of Lake Champlain snapped by Copernicus-Sentinel IIIa snapped yesterday July 19 shows the Baie Missisquoi HAB has positively exploded over the 24 hours since our last viewing window. Two hot spots in the northeast bay, one in the USA and the other across the border into Canada have accelerated to unprecedented extreme high concentrations, up to 3 million cells per 100 ml, the high concentration taking over the majority of the HAB area in Baie Missisquoi. The hot spots are no longer touching as reported yesterday, they appear to have moved away from each other toward their respective shorelines leaving an area of clear open water between them. The expansion of this HAB mass continues southward, the southmost edge of the HAB reaching North Hero Island looking at 800 thousand cells per 100 ml.
From the NYS HABs reporting center, eighty-five HABs are confirmed for interior freshwater lakes Saturday morning, down from ninety-two yesterday at this time. First of the season HAB reports are confirmed for Swinging Bridge Reservoir, Francis J Marks Memorial Park Swimming Pond and Tonawanda Creek. See bluegreen tags on the map to the right, the full list of water bodies impacted is found here.
Louisiana: The latest upload from the NCCOS snapped by C-SIIIa dated July 19 at surface wind speed 3.3 mph is choked with clouds, such that the only HABs visible are in the far southeast, Bayous Perot and Rigolettes, the Pen and Black Bay, all widespread HABs 600 thousand to 700 thousand cells per 100 ml concentration. The previous clear image from July 17 showed an open water HAB in Lake Pontchartrain approximately 5 nm from Madisonville and Mandeville shorelines. The latest HAB report for Louisiana is available here.
California: The latest weekly HAB update is out from California Water Boards, just one HAB DANGER alert on the list, San Antonio Lake San Antonio Lake north and south shore recreational
areas posted in the Region 3 Central Coast watershed, Monterey County. Three beaches are posted with HAB WARNING this week, Pyramid Lake, Santee Lakes Park near the campground and the pond in Heritage Park. Both degrees of beach alert, HAB DANGER and HAB WARNING signage carry the caption "Toxins from the algae in this water can harm humans and kill animals", followed by a string of safety measures. The one difference between these alert levels is that properly cleaned and cooked fish fillets can be consumed from the waters under the WARNING level alert. Caution alerts have been issued for 23 locations, and algal mat awareness alerts for six sites, visual observations are reported for three more sites. Updates are in progress, for the latest report, click here.
Georgia: Jekyll Island's South Dunes Beach was posted early in the week for elevated bacteria levels, since testing well below the threshhold. Samples taken on July 16 show the enterrococcus levels at 2 colony forming units per 100 ml water sample, down from the 100 cfu results that prompted the advisory earlier in the week. No new information on the presence of HABs in Georgia. USGS HAB research indicates GA is one of six states with no anecdotal reports of HAB poisonings. Georgia Environmental Protection Division takes reports on suspicious algal blooms, so far in 2024 there have been no such reports logged. The Georgia Healthy Beaches program of Coastal Public Health tests beaches for bacteria, posting permanent and temporary advisories to warn the public. The latest Georgia beach advisories are available here.
See the North American drainage basin map here, scroll all the way down to see how surface water moves across the continent into the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Arctic Oceans. WT Media Group tells the story of water in three countries, Canada, USA and Mexico. See the drinking water advisories, hazardous spills, floods, drought and harmful algal blooms plotted on the maps, as the water flows. Check out the CrimeBox for historic prosecutions under the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act box for details on public drinking water facilities, interviews with the scientists and tech developers on the leading edge of clean water technology here.
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.
Harmful Algal Blooms: WT follows the movement and growth of harmful algal blooms (HABs) as provided by the satellite monitoring program of the NCCOS for New York's Lake Champlain, Ohio's Lake Erie and Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain and surrounding area. Interpretation of satellite images is best in clear conditions at wind speed less than 4 mph, where the appearance and extent of HABs is reliably matched to a color scale for concentration. HABs are known to produce algal toxins of concern for raw drinking water sources and recreational water bodies. Plan beach access to avoid HABs and consider carrying a rapid test kit to detect the toxin microcystins.
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