7/13/2024
WT Staff
 HAPPENING NOW
Saturday, July 13 2024
Moderate drought in Wills Creek watershed, Guernsey County
July 13, 2024 1018 am EDT
Streamflow Situation from the network of monitors of USGS Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center
Streamflows remain normal to much above normal in the Lake Erie west basin on the weekend, the higher streamflows seen throughout the Great Miami River basin yesterday have slowed overnight to above seasonal normal ratings. Through the remainder of central and east Ohio, streamflows run normal in the north and below to much below normal in the south. No active flooding is recorded in the reference network Saturday, no extreme high flows and no 1st percentile extreme low flows. The station on Wheeling Creek below Blaine continues to record 2nd percentile, contributing to the drought rating for the surrounding area below normal. Wills Creek watershed in the Muskingum Basin remains in moderate drought.
HAB Tracker satellite monitoring program of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
New York
A clear image of Lake Champlain captured July 8 is the latest good look we have at the Baie Missisquoi HAB. The latest upload from NCCOS was snapped yesterday, July 12, mostly cloud obscured with a partial view of the northeast bay in the HAB color concentration for 700 thousand cells per 110 ml. This widespread HAB runs from northeast bay shore in Canada to the shore of Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge in the USA. From the July 8 image, this HAB has the appearance of an extreme high concentration 2 million cells per 100 ml along the north shore in Canada, down to 900 thousand cells per standard sample size in the USA. From the NYS HABs reporting center, eighty-seven active HABs are confirmed in the interior freshwater lakes and streams of NY, down from ninety-one active blooms confirmed Friday. No new HAB reports have been confirmed since our report July 12, a number of HAB reports have been archived. The latest list of HABs by water body and location descriptions is found here.
Louisiana: A massive HAB bloom has emerged in Lake Pontchartrain visible in the latest upload from NCCOS July 11. The Lake Pontchartrain HAB measures approximately five nm by five nm, sits in open water in the east half of the lake. A band of dispersed open water HABs show around the center to slightly west stretching up toward the north shore, these HABs appear moderate concentration, around 100 thousand cells per 100 ml. This is the first sign of widespread HABs in Lake Pontchartrain this season. The high concentration lakewide HAB we have been observing in Lake Verret appears in the latest image around 600 to 700 cells per 100 ml, the remaining area is cloud obscured. Southeast LA water bodies at are captured in a wide angle pass by the Copernicus-Sentinel III satellite, catching Lake Pontchartrain to Black Bay in frame. The latest image was captured July 11 at a surface wind speed 6.1 mph. The latest HAB report for Louisiana is available here.
Ohio: Lake Erie west basin is captured by the NCCOS monitoring satellite, the latest clear image captured the Lake Erie bloom July 11 at surface wind speed 10 mph. At wind speeds above 4 mph, the extent we see may not be the full picture. This image shows the Lake Erie HAB now extends more than 20 nm from Toledo, up past Monroe Detroit Beach Woodland Beach to Stony Point. One large appendage off the main bloom stem extends in a five-mile wide band beginning from center of the Michigan shore reaching fifteen nautical miles into open water. At the Ohio shoreline, the HAB snakes along Maumee Bay State Park, Niles Beach, up around Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge and wraps Reno Beach up to the Magee Marsh and Metzger Marsh Wildlife areas. Sandusky Bay bloom Aphanizomenon remains parked in the bay, concentration around 800 thousand cells per 100 ml. The latest Ohio HAB report is 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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