2/21/2024
WT Staff
HAPPENING NOW
Miamisburg under BWA
Severe drought rating lands on Lake Erie drainage basin
Water news for Wednesday, February 21, 2024 202 pm EST
Drinking Water Matters
Miamisburg is impacted by a boil water advisory following a water main break Monday. The BWA applies to customers on King Harry Place, Nottingham Place, Maid Marion Court, King Richard Parkway from Golden Arrow Drive to Oakbark Street 725 and 726 North Gebhart Church Road until further notice.
Streamflow Situation from USGS Waterwatch based on real-time flow monitors across Ohio
Ohio appears to have plunged into a statewide low flow scenario midweek, much below seasonal normal streamflows dominating the map on both sides of the drainage divide.
Loramie Creek is still registering an extreme low flow value in the Upper Great Miami River basin Wednesday. Cuyahoga River flow level monitored at Newburgh Heights is 3rd percentile low.
Drinking Water Matters
Lake Erie is the drinking water source for 12.5 million people in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario, Canada, including 3 million people in Ohio.
Countdown is on to the critical window for Lake Erie water quality 2024. WTOH.us is observing and reporting streamflow levels in the west Lake Erie drainage basin, also known as the Maumee River watershed, check back here for a daily update on the moisture conditions in this sensitive landscape with the potential to accelerate or manage the Lake Erie HAB for the upcoming season.
Drought map from USGS Waterwatch 7-day average streamflow compared with historic flow for today's date
Ashtabula-Chagrin Rivers watershed appears at severe drought rating Wednesday afternoon, with adjacent Cuyahoga and Grand River watersheds rated moderate drought. The same four subregions, watersheds within the larger basins evade the drought map as yesterday, the rest of the state is rated below normal or moderate drought.
The exceptions to the drought map north of the state height of land are northwest St Josephs and Tiffin River watersheds, having been in a flood state in January this area is still recording seasonal normal streamflows. Also in the Lake Erie west drainage area, Cedar-Portage River watershed is excluded from a below normal or any drought rating. South of the divide, Upper Ohio tributary Wheeling Creek watershed is not rated on the drought map, followed by the Scioto River Tygarts watershed and Middle Ohio minor tributary Laughery Creek watershed in Hamilton County.
Maumee River Upper and Lower watersheds remain below normal, St Marys River and Auglaize River watersheds remain at moderate drought. Blanchard, Ottawa River, Sandusky, Huron, Vermilion, Black-Rocky are rated below normal, changing to moderate drought at Cuyahoga and Grand River watersheds, escalating to severe drought at the Lake Erie Ashtabula-Chagrin watershed.
South of the drainage divide, the whole state map is shaded below normal with the Muskingum Basin's Wills Creek watershed, Upper Ohio minor tributary Shade River and Raccoon-Symmes watersheds still rated moderate drought as yesterday.
The remainder of Muskingum, Scioto and Great Miami basins are rated below normal again today, with the exceptions noted above.
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.
Harmful Algal Bloom HAB Update
A clear image captured by satellite on Feb 20 at a surface wind speed of 6.3 mph shows Lake Erie open water, shoreline and islands. A localized HAB appears along the shoreline near Camp Perry, localized HAB in east side harbor of Catawba Island, localized HABs along the north shore of Kelleys Island. Localized HABs appear along shore near Huron River outlet. All HABs match the concentration 100 thousand cells per 100 ml.
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