12/20/2023
WT Staff
HAPPENING NOW
Lake Erie HAB three miles wide
Blanchard River watershed steps up to moderate drought
Up to the minute water news for Wednesday, December 20, 2023 - last updated 1158 am EST
Streamflow Situation from USGS Waterwatch based on real-time flow monitors across Ohio
Normal flows prevail from from Great Miami River basin to the east state line. The flows recorded on the west side remain below normal to much below normal on both sides of the divide. Tymochtee Creek is still flowing low at Crawford, running 2.06 ft deep at .25 cubic feet per second. Below to much below normal flows persist in the Great Miami River basin.
Drought situation from USGS Waterwatch 7-day average streamflow compared with historic flow for today's date
Blanchard River watershed has escalated to moderate drought Wednesday. Auglaize River watershed remains severe hydrologic drought with adjacent Tiffin River, Upper and Lower Maumee River, St Marys, St Josephs watersheds all remain rated below normal. Grand River watershed in the east section of the Lake Erie basin is rated below normal.
South of the divide, Ohio River minor tributaries are rated below normal all the way around the east and south state boundary with the Little Muskingum River watershed area being the one section still rated normal. The Mahoning River, Little Beaver Creek, Wheeling Creek watersheds are rated below normal. Shade River watershed is rated moderate hydrologic drought, with adjacent Ohio minor tributaries Raccoon-Symmes, Brush -Whiteoak and Laughery watersheds all rated below normal.
The entire Great Miami basin and adjacent Scioto basin's Paint River and Tygarts watersheds are likewise rated below normal.
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 19 at undetermined surface wind speed. A widespread HAB in Maumee Bay is evident at 100 thousand cells per 100 ml. A band of HABs up to three miles wide run along shore are clearly visible from Maumee Bay State Park around Cedar Point National Wildlife Preserve, past Reno Beach, past Camp Perry up to Port Clinton. The image is completely cloud obscured east of Port Clinton. In a previous image HABs appeared 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.
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