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12/18/2023
WT Staff
HAPPENING NOW
Severe drought takes over the southwest
Hazardous algae continues to bloom in Lake Verret, Palourde, Salvador
Up to the minute water news for Monday, December 18, 2023 - last updated 1131 am CST
Moderate drought takes over the southwest from USGS 7-day average streamflows
Severe drought expanded eastward over the weekend from the Sabine River drainage area across south Louisiana watershed Regions 4 and 5, excluding Evangeline and Acandia Parish, still rated below normal. Another expansion of severe drought in watershed Region 3 extends west from Tensas River including most of Morehouse, all of Richland and Franklin Parishes.
Extreme drought rating has come off Region 1 Saline Bayou drainage area which is downgraded to severe drought Monday. One area rated extreme drought remains in an area between the Tensas and Mississippi Rivers in northeast LA, including East Carroll, Madison and Tensas Parishes.
Webster Parish had remained clear of the drought map in all of west state last week, only to take on a below normal rating over the weekend. The west half of Bossier Parish has come off the drought map, a sliver of normal left on the west side of the state. Washington and St Tammany are not drought rated Monday, and watersheds Region 6 and 8 remain rated normal.
Five streamflow monitors are recording low flow values in Louisiana Monday including two monitors on the Sabine River in Region 4 and two monitors in Region 3, Bayou Bartholomew and Tensas River. Bayou Teche is flowing low in Region 5. Updates in progress. More to follow. See brown tags on the map for details.
Note WaterToday reports day-to-day changes recorded by USGS streamflow monitors on rivers and tributaries located in Louisiana, along with monitors upstream in the Mississippi River basin: Ohio, Georgia and southwest New York state. USGS creates a drought map from 7-day average streamflow readings, by comparing the average with the historic weekly normal flow value for each location. The drought ratings are below normal, moderate hydrologic drought, severe drought and extreme drought.
Boil Water Advisories:
Merryville BWA remains in effect following a system-wide disruption of service Thursday. The boil advisory applies to all customers of Merryville until further notice.
Refer to yellow tags on the map for more BWAs in effect in the state of Louisiana. Also see the latest EPA Safe Drinking Water Act list of Serious Violators under the SDWA button to the right of the map.
HABs Report from National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) satellite monitoring program
NCCOS image captured December 16 is completely cloud obscured. The interpretation from the last clear image December 15 follows, though this image was taken at high wind speed 15.7 mph. Note the extent of HABs may be underestimated due to submerging of the bloom mass.
No HAB activity is evident in Lake Pontchartrain or Lake Maurepas in the December 15 image. Again, we cannot assume no HAB at this wind speed, recall the HABs seen extensively through Pontchartrain December 12 when imaged at a slightly lower wind speed.
Lake Verret, Palourde, Lac des Allemands and Bayou Fortier blooms are visible Dec 15 at 600 to 700 cells per 100 ml concentration. Lake Cataouache is visible for the first time in a week, HABs are visible in the south at 500 thousand cells per 100 ml. Lake Salvador HAB 500 thousand cells per 100 ml along shore in two locations, the northeast and the southeast.
Hazardous Spills emergency and non-emergency incidents reported to Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Crude oil spill in the Gulf
The last update from Unified Command was offered ten days ago, on December 5, 2023. As of that time, the entire length of the Main Pass Oil Gathering (MPOG) company's pipeline system has been examined and the source of the leak had not been found. Quoting from the Unified Command press statement of Dec 5, The cause and source of the incident remain under investigation. The entire length of the main pipeline has been assessed to date, along with 22.16 miles of surrounding pipelines with no damage or indications of a leak identified. Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and divers continue to reassess the main pipeline and surrounding pipelines as a sustained effort to locate the source of the suspected release.
Dial 228-273-2400 for claims associated with this incident. To report oiled wildlife in the area, call the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries at 337-735-8677. See the CWA Crimebox for a historic case brief related to a spill of 500 barrels of crude oil spilled in the Gulf in 2012. More to follow.
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA role in supporting Unified Command
From the NOAA Office of Response and Restoration:
"In response to the crude oil release, known as the MPOG 11015 incident, a Unified Command was established by the USCG, the responding party MPOG, and the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office, in coordination with NOAA, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, Forefront Emergency Management and other federal, state and local agencies to develop and execute a response strategy. For decades, the USCG and NOAA have played a joint role in ensuring vital operational support and response capabilities for oil and chemical spills. After the reports were received, OR&R began deploying to provide response support on-scene to the incident management team, the Federal On-scene Coordinator (U.S. Coast Guard), and Unified Command based in Belle Chasse, Louisiana.
Note about hazardous spill incident reporting, from LDEQ: Information contained in the Field Interview form is the preliminary observation of the inspector. This should not be construed as a final determination of LDEQ, its officers or personnel as to any matter, including compliance or non-compliance with statutes, regulations and permits.
Each day of non-compliance is considered a separate violation of the Louisiana Environmental Quality Act.
See the pink tags on the map with the watershed layer turned on, showing the potential impact zone of hazardous spills in the environment. Refer to the Spills button on the right of the map for more incident reports filed this year.
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