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12/12/2023
WT Staff
HAPPENING NOW
Drought conditions intensify
Low flow NW of Jones
Up to the minute water news for Tuesday, December 12, 2023 - last updated 313 pm CST
Drought Situation Intensifies from USGS 7-day average streamflows
The drought map of Louisiana has been filling in, we see areas not previously rated in drought showing up in the last couple of days below normal, including an increasing area of Region 1 filling in around the extreme drought rated Saline Bayou channel. As of Tuesday afternoon, the west side of Region 4 has gone from moderate drought to severe drought, including the west portion of Vernon, Beauregard, Calcasieu and a strip along the west border of Cameron Parishes.
Regions 2 is now entirely below normal including Winn, Grant and Rapides Parishes. Region 3 drought rated area is expanding, with more severe and extreme rated area bordered by moderate drought and surrounded by below normal rated area. A low flow registers on Bayou Bartholomew this morning NW of Jones, where we also have a BWA in effect.
Only eastern Morehouse, West Carroll, Richland and Franklin Parishes escape the drought map in Region 3 as of this latest update. The Tensas River continues to flow low at Tendal, the area from moderate drought rated Tensas River channel shoots up to extreme drought to the Mississippi River.
Region 4 and 5 are the color of moderate drought in all but Evangeline and Acadia Parishes as of Tuesday. Region 7's Tangipahoa River channel sits at the severe assessment, while the area west has taken on the rating of below normal, from Pointe Coupee and Iberville Parishes leaving parts of St Helena and Livingston Parishes off the drought map. East of Tangipahoa Parish, drougght has crept over the east side of St Tammany and Washington Parishes, to this point not included in the drought rated area.
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:
The Jones McGinty Water System BWA remains in effect for customers connecting on Old Bonita Road 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 has supplied an image taken December 11 at a high wind speed 17.3 mph. This image is mostly clear, with an unobstructed view of Lake Pontchartrain and water bodies to the south and west. The high wind speed can result in underestimation of the HAB area. Where HAB is visible, we can have confidence in what we are observing, including the color scale indicating the concentration.
No HAB activity is visible in Lake Pontchartrain in the Dec 11 capture. This interpretation is unreliable at wind speed above 4 mph, which is certainly the case here. We cannot therefore assume no HAB in Lake Pontchartain; HAB may be submerged and out of sight.
Lac des Allemands and Bayou Fortier blooms are visible in this Dec 11 image, as are the HABs in Lake Verret and Lake Palourde, Lake Salvador. The concentration remains high, from 500 thousand in Lake Salvador to 900 thousand cells per 100 ml in Lakle Palourde. See the bluegreen tags on our map give the interpretation of the last clear image available for each water body.
Hazardous Spills emergency and non-emergency incidents reported to Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Crude oil spill in the Gulf
Unified Command has released an update on the 1.1 million gallons of crude oil discharged into the Gulf of Mexico on or around November 17. The source of the leak has not yet been located, the pipeline remains shut down.
In the latest press briefing from Unified Command, December 5, 2023 the Coast Guard 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. 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.
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.
On-scene, response teams identified the leak as crude oil, however, the exact location, time of the release, and the amount of oil is still being evaluated. Initial engineering calculations indicate the potential volume of oil is 1.1 million gallons (about one tenth the size of the Exxon Valdez spill). On November 17, USCG aircraft and NOAA satellite imagery observed a slick of over 40 miles in length, heading southwest from the leak location; however, overflights in the following days observed intermittent surface sheens.
Since November 21, no new or continuous oil discharge has been reported. Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) surveys and assessments are ongoing by the pipeline owners, USCG, and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to determine the source location of the spill. ROVs will continue to survey the pipeline, as weather conditions permit." (end of NOAA statement)
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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