12/15/2023
WT Staff
HAPPENING NOW
Acid spill in Toledo
Triad Middle School OEPA Public Drinking Water Advisory
Up to the minute water news for Friday, December 15, 2023 - last updated 640 pm EST
Hazardous Spills Hotline records as reported to OEPA 1-800-282-9378
A spill of unknown amount of muriatic acid and unknown amount of sulfuric acid, a corrosive regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act reported spilled on I-80 northbound through Toledo near the E Manhattan Blvd. The incident in Lucas County does not indicate a release into water of the state, none of the substance is reported recovered at the scene. More to follow.
Drinking Water matters
Triad Middle School in North Lewisburg was cited by OEPA November 20 with a public drinking water "Sensitive Persons Advisory" for arsenic above the maximum contaminant level (MCL). According to the OEPA records, Triad Middle School runs a non-transient, non-community water system serving 251 to 1000 persons from a groundwater source. The running average test result for 3rd quarter 2023 was 11 micrograms per liter arsenic where the MCL is 10 micrograms per liter.
Triad Middle School responded promptly to our inquiry, forwarding the notice letter sent to parents November 28. From that notice, "As soon as we were informed about the MCL violation, Triad worked with the Ohio EPA to look for options to address the issue. We will first replace the resin in our water system. This should help to filter the water and reduce the “naturally occurring element” from our systems. The second recommendation is to add additional summer procedures to regularly flush the MS/ES water system out to ensure water does not sit for long periods of time and cause the 3rd quarter reading to be
elevated."
Arsenic is a naturally occuring inorganic chemical that can cause health issues for sensitive persons if consumed in excess. The sensitive persons advisory does not indicate a need for an alternate water source, such as bottled water. The OEPA fact sheet on arsenic is found here: https://epa.ohio.gov/static/Portals/28/documents/pws/ArsenicFactsheet.pdf
NWS Outlook
Rain in the forecast for Cleveland and Toledo, 70% chance of rain may bring some relief to the very dry conditions in the northwest.
Streamflow Situation from USGS Waterwatch based on real-time flow monitors across Ohio
The downward streamflow trend continues statewide, spreading from the west on both sides of the divide to the Ohio River. As of this update, another station in the northwest has escalated downward, three more locations in the Great Miami Basin have fallen below the 10th percentile and four stations monitoring tributaries of the Ohio River have been added to the much below normal list as well.
Expanding in the Lake Erie west basin, much below normal flows now apply twice on the Auglaize River, the watershed area also rated severe drought. Blanchard River lit Thursday much below normal and as of Friday morning, we have a tributary of the Sandusky River reporting much below normal. On the east side of the Lake Erie basin, Cuyahoga River is still much below normal at the last monitoring station before the outlet, and Conneaut Creek is much below normal as we saw yesterday.
South of the state divide, much below normal flows extend to two more stations on the Great Miami River itself, this morning we see one station on the Little Miami River much below normal with a total of five tributary monitors reaching the 10th percentile or lower. One of these tributaries, Loramie Creek at the headwaters of the Great Miami basin is rated the low Friday. One station in the Scioto Basin is registering much below normal again today, with Mahoning River in the Upper Ohio minor tributaries having three out of four stations showing below 10th percentile flows Friday. Moving south with the Ohio River, Shade River is flowing much below normal at Chester, as is Upper Twin Creek at McGaw. Many more stations are recording below normal Friday, indicating the downward trend is likely to continue over the weekend, expect to see a change in the rated area of the drought map next.
Drought situation from USGS Waterwatch 7-day average streamflow compared with historic flow for today's date
As expected, the drought map has taken on more real estate overnight. Auglaize River watershed continues in severe hydrologic drought mode with adjacent watersheds remaining below normal as yesterday, Blanchard, Lower Maumee, St Marys, St Josephs watersheds. Mahoning River watershed remains below normal as seen all week. With three out of four monitors now recording much below normal streamflow, expect to see this watershed area fall into a deeper drought state over the weekend. Two additional Ohio River minor tributary watersheds are showing below normal Friday, the Wheeling Creek Belmont County and Shade River, Meigs and Washington Counties.
Little Miami River watershed just came off the drought map Wednesday this week, now showing much below normal flows in three locations. Expect to see this area back over the weekend. Scioto basin's Tygarts watershed is still on the drought map rated below normal as it has been all week, no change in sight.
The height-of-land divide in Ohio runs from Mercer County in the west angling northeast up to Ashtabula County on the east state border. Streamflows north of the divide feed Lake Erie, flows south of the divide run to the Ohio River, part of the Mississippi River basin that drains the majority of interior North America to the Gulf of Mexico.
As the drought conditions shift and change in the Ohio River basin, track the effects south down the Mississippi River into to Louisiana, rated "Exceptional Drought", the highest category on the National Drought map. Visit WTLA.us for more information on downstream effects.
Harmful Algal Bloom update based on the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) satellite monitoring program
A new satellite image has been released by NCCOS, taken December 14 at undetermined surface wind speed. This image shows the Ohio shore of Lake Erie clearly for the third day in a row. Small localized HABs along the Ohio shore of Lake Erie are observed filling in from Dec 12 to 13, now appear to be thinning out again. The HABs are clearly visible along the Lake Erie shore and in open water from Sandusky Bay outlet to Vermilion-on-the-Lake in this latest image. The concentration of all HABs appears consistent at 100 thousand cells per 100 ml or less. Wind speed is undetermined, and a high wind warning from NWS for Monday may continue to cause an underestimate of the HAB area in Lake Erie.
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