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12/5/2023
WT Staff
HAPPENING NOW
Drought conditions easing off
BWAs for DeRidder and St Martinville
Tuesday, December 5, 2023 - last updated 433 pm am CST
Boil Water Advisories:
DeRidder water system experienced a total water outage yesterday and has had to issue a system-wide boil water advisory until water tests are clear. Residents of DeRidder must boil drinking water until further notice.
City of St Martinville has issued a system-wide BWA following emergency repairs yesterday. This advisory impacts all 7575 water customers served by the local government owned facility. This drinking water treatment facility is sourced from groundwater wells, has violations on the EPA record books over the previous 12 quarters and holds a C grade with Louisiana Department of Health. See more information on City of St. Martinville Water System in our SDWA profiles later this week.
St Tammany Parish BWA remains in effect since a power outage on the weekend, impacting all customers of the Ben Thomas Water System until further notice.
Lake Arthur, Mermentau system-wide BWAs remain in effect.
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.
Drought Situation from USGS 7-day average streamflows
Measured drought conditions continue to ease Tuesday.
The drought rating for the Tangipahoa River channel in Region 7 has improved again today, stepped down from severe to moderate hydrologic drought over the weekend, and to below normal status overnight. Region 3 Tensas River channel east to the Mississippi River is still rated extreme drought as it was yesterday. Tensas River is still recording a low-rated current streamflow Tuesday, see the map for details. Region 1's Saline Bayou Channel holds on to a severe drought rating, as we observed yesterday. Regions 4 and 5 are rated below normal this morning with the exception of the Calcasieu River channel hanging on to moderate drought rating and Evangeline and Acadia remaining the drought-proof Parishes we have seen all season.
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.
Hazardous Spills emergency and non-emergency incidents reported to Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Crude oil spill in the Gulf
Unified Command is set to release another statement today regarding the 1.1 million gallons of crude oil discharged into the Gulf of Mexico on or around November 17. More to follow as we wait on this announcement.
The latest news from Unified Command press briefing Nov 28, "The Unified Command continues to monitor and respond to an oil discharge near the Main Pass Oil Gathering (MPOG) company's pipeline system, known as the MPOG 11015 incident, near Plaquemines Parish, southeast of New Orleans. The cause and source of the incident remain under investigation. Overflights conducted November 20 to date have observed no new oil from the suspected release. Recent wildlife and shoreline assessments identified no wildlife or shoreline impacts. Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and divers are continuing to survey multiple pipelines in the area. More than 39.5 miles of the main pipeline have been inspected, with no damages or indications of a leak identified. ROVs have also inspected more than 6 miles of surrounding pipelines, also with no damages or indications of a leak identified.
A claims phone line has been established at (228) 273-2400. To report oiled wildlife in the area, call the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries at (337) 735-8677.
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.
HABs Report from National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) satellite monitoring program - updates in progress - more to follow here
NCCOS image captured Sunday is completely cloud obscured. The last clear image was captured on Wednesday, November 29. This image shows widespread HAB in Lake Pontchartrain at 200 thousand cells per 100 ml.
From the last available image, Lac des Allemands and Bayou Fortier show lakewide HAB activity at the high concentration of 800 to 900 thousand cells per 100 ml with widespread HAB all the way down Baie Des Deux Chenes and Bayou des Allemands into Lake Salvador matching the color scale for a high concentration, 600 to 700 thousand cells per 100 ml. Lake Verret and Lake Palourde HABs rage on at similar appearance as last image, the high concentration HAB filling Lake Verret at 900 thousand to 1 million cells per 100 ml, the highest concentration at the south shore. The north shoreline has a clear spot on the west side and on the east side, a high concentration HAB now touches north shore. Lake Palourde HAB remains widespread or lakewide at a bit cooler concentration, 500 thousand cells per 100 ml.
Bluegreen location tags on our map give the interpretation of the last clear image available.
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