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12/20/2023
WT Staff
HAPPENING NOW
Washington Parish on the drought map
Pontchartrain HAB
Up to the minute water news for Wednesday, December 20, 2023 - last updated 131 pm CST
Drought Map from USGS 7-day average streamflows compared to historic averages
Washington Parish joins St Tammany Parish taking on the below normal rating Wednesday. >
Extreme drought remains on the Region 3 watershed between the Tensas and Mississippi Rivers in northeast LA, including East Carroll, Madison and Tensas Parishes. Severe drought has expanded in Region 3 west of the Tensas River, which is still sending low flow values. Regions 4 and 5 are rated severe drought, along with the Tangipahoa River channel in Region 7.
Watershed Regions 6 and 8 remain outside the drought map midweek, with the west side of Bossier Parish continuing to evade. Regions 6 and 8 south of Lake Pontchartrain continue as normal, 7-day average streamflows matching historic normal flow levels.
Eight streamflow monitors are recording low flow including Bayou Pierre in Region 1, Little River in Region 2, Chemin-au-haute Bayou, Bayou Bartholomew and Tensas River in Region 3, two monitors on the Sabine River and Bayou Anococo in Region 4 and Bayou Teche in Region 5 extreme low flows tell the water story in Louisiana. 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:
Washington has issued a BWA due to an electrical problem with a sensor that was clogged up. The advisory will be in effect 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
The latest image provided is from December 19 at a high wind speed, 16.4 mph. This image clearly shows the Lake Pontchartain HAB, widespread in the east half of the water body at a concentration matching 100 thousand cells per 100 ml.
Lake Maurepas still appears HAB free, which may or may not be the case, the high wind speed in the current image could be submerging a bloom, however, the previous image was captured at a lower wind speed, Lake Maurepas appeared similar. Lac des Allemands and Bayou Fortier are experiencing a widespread HAB appearing 400 thousand cells per 100 ml. Lake Verret and Lake Palourde each have a large localized HAB appearing 500 to 600 thousand cells per 100 ml concentration. Lake Cataoache small dispersed HAB in the south end appear 400 to 500 thousand cells per 100 ml. Lake Salvador has cloud cover partially obscuring what appears to be a widespread HAB in the northeast become a dispersed area of open water HABs concentration 300 thousand cells per 100 ml.
Lake Lery and Black Bay HABs appear 600 thousand cells per 100 ml.
See the bluegreen tags on our map for more
Hazardous Spills emergency and non-emergency incidents reported to Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
In watershed Region 7 Baton Rouge, a sewage spill has been reported impacting soil. The incident occurred following a power outage during a heavy rain event. Region 5, a sewage spill has been reported impacting soil from a wastewater facility on Deerfield Loop in Duson, Lafayette Parish. The incident report indicates a leaking clarifier as the cause of the spill.
Crude oil spill in the Gulf
An emailed statement from US Coast Guard Wed Dec 20, "There are no updates for the source of the November 16 spill, and the cause and source are still under investigation. The main pipeline and several surrounding lines remain shut in and have not been put back into service."
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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