8/26/2024
WT Staff
 August 26, 2024 1113 am EDT
Drought in Lake Erie drainage basin
Streamflow Situation from the network of USGS streamflow gauges in the USA
Seven monitoring stations record flow above flood stage in the USA Monday morning, no flooding in Ohio as of this report. Ohio streamflows run normal to much below normal statewide with an extreme low value first percentile flow popping up in the Muskingum River basin. Drought ratings apply to Sandusky, Blanchard and Lower Maumee watersheds rated below normal in the Lake Erie drainage basin. Below normal applies to Little Miami River watershed, Lower Scioto and Tygarts watersheds, Muskingum basin's Hocking River, and Ohio River minor tributaries Raccoon-Symmes and Wheeling Creek watershed. Ohio River minor tributary Shade River watershed is rated moderate drought.
WT HAB Tracker from the satellite monitoring program of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science(NCCOS) and State sources where available
Toxins are produced within the cells of certain strains of bluegreen algae, released in the water when the infested cells rupture or die. The Cyanobacteria Assessment Network combines the efforts of NOAA, NASA, USGS to detect algal blooms, guiding local and State agencies to carefully monitor the water quality and make decisions about health impacts. The US EPA studied a number of cyanotoxins over a five year period in Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring - Cycle 4, published results in 2021, ultimately the cyanotoxins were not adopted into the US Safe Drinking Water Act regulation, rather Health Advisories were released to guide the States in their drinking water and recreational water and public health management. While some states have implemented routine testing for cyanotoxins in drinking water, such as Ohio, many others, including Georgia, have not. As WT Group follows the current trends with water and all matters potentially impacting drinking water sources, we do report on the appearance and concentration of HABs as we find them across North America.
Lake Erie west basin
The latest satellite image of Lake Erie West basin was captured August 25 at wind speed 5 mph. The hot spot in Lake Erie HAB here is north of Toledo in Maumee Bay, 3 to 4 million cells. The extent of this bloom is much reduced from our previous view, running approximately 15 nm from Maumee River outlet north along the Michigan shoreline, and approximately 10 to 12 nm to the east, the east side of the HAB in line with Magee Marsh Wilderness Area. A narrow band of HAB runs along the Ohio shore past Camp Perry to Port Clinton, the HAB east side of Catawba Island is localized, Sandusky Bay retains the lakewide HAB of reduced concentration, 500 to 600 thousand cells per 100 ml. See the latest NCCOS satellite image of Lake Erie west basin here.
New York
From the NYS DEC notifications center, 132 HABs are confirmed in New York State Monday morning, down from 142 active cases on the weekend. Delta Lake and Indian Falls Lake have first HABs of 2024 with Bradley Brook Reservoir back on the impacted water list.
The latest clear image of Lake Champlain HAB was captured Aug 24 at unknown wind speed, showing Baie Missisquoi HAB covering a reduced area in the bay centered along the east shore at 1 million cells per 100 ml. A small localized HAB along the north shore on the Canadian side of the border meets 2 million cells per 100 ml. A new image has been added from Sunday August 25, cloud obscured with no view of the water.
Louisiana: The latest image is dated Aug 25, taken at high wind speed over 15 mph. This image is partially cloud obscured, a glimpse of Bayou Fortier reveals an area of extreme high concentration 3 million cells per 100 ml, Lac des Allemands HAB appears lower concentration, 700 to 800 thousand cells. Lake Fields is cloud obscured in this image. Lake Verret is cloud obscured, Lake Palourde and the water to the south show 900 thousand to 1 million cells per 100 ml lakewide blooms.
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