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8/12/2024
WT Staff
 August 12, 2024 1024 CDT
HAPPENING NOW
Counting the damage from Depression Debby
Fifty-seven sites in the streamflow network of the USGS are still in active flood mode in the east USA Monday morning as the damage is assessed and the clean up and recovery continues. Georgia is home to thirteen of these sites, all flooding in the south. As always, the drinking water infrastructure is our primary concern. Stay alert for drinking water advisories in your local area as surface and groundwater sources can be impacted by flooding. Call us for more information, 833-414-1114.
According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) there are already nineteen weather and climate related disasters over a billion dollars in damages on the books in the USA to the end of July, 2024. Three more disasters are still calculating total damages, Debby included. The number of large scale, devastating climate disasters has drastically increased from 1980 to 2024. Up to the end of 2023, the average number of billion-dollar disasters in the USA was eight and a half per year. In the last five years, 2019 through 2023, that number has jumped to 20.4. So far in 2024, we have nearly hit and may already have passed the five-year average with hurricane season just getting started.
Follow us here for streamflow tracking and impacts to drinking water supplies and quality as the weather and climate events continue. Your emergency response crews are sharp and up to the challenge, your National Weather Service is rolling out better and better forecasting and modeling systems, the US drinking water facilities are up to speed and cities are adapting to handle the more frequent and severe weather events. WaterToday is pleased to be your portal for drinking water advisories, pinned to our maps in yellow, active flood events with black tags. View the watershed layer to see what has been reported impacting water in your local supply impact zone.
WT HAB Tracker from state sources and where available, the satellite monitoring program of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
Louisiana: The latest upload from the NCCOS was captured August 11 at high wind speed 10.2 mph. This is a clear view of the southeast water bodies with a big blank slate showing up for Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas. HABs are either not present, or too low concentration to be observed, or submerged by high wind. The big development in this image over our last view is the escalation of the lakewide HAB in Lac des Allemands, the hot spots described at the center of the bloom shifted out of the west bay to midlake and the southeast water over the weekend are now increasing in concentration, from 1.5 to 2 million and even 3 million along the southeast shoreline. Check out the latest satellite image from NCCOS here.
Georgia:
Georgia's Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island beaches continue to meet the safety threshhold for bacteria Monday morning. Two permanent advisories for Jekyll Island also tested clear for bacteria in the last quarterly water sample taken July 1, 2024. As of this report, all other St Simons Island and Jekyll Island beaches are tagged in green, indicating water meets the safety guidelines for bacteria. No new information has been found on the presence of HABs in Georgia since our last update. Georgia Environmental Protection Division does accept reports from the public of suspicious algal blooms. As we receive updates from EPD, the results will be found here. The latest Georgia beach advisories are available here.
New York
Two hundred and thirteen active HAB reports greet us Monday morning for New York State, down from 235 Saturday. These suspicious algal blooms in New York lakes, ponds, rivers and reservoirs are reported by any number of state agencies, Lake Associations, volunteer groups and the general public, confirmed by the Department of Environmental Conservation.
A number of water bodies are back on the active HAB list for a second wave after being clear for a time. Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn, Washington Park Pond and the ponds in Colonie Crossings Park in Albany County are back on the radar. All reports made prior to July 30 have been archived. See bluegreen tags on the map for impacted water bodies with at least one active HAB. The complete list from NYS DEC is here.
The latest image in from NCCOS was snapped August 11, mostly cloud obscured with very little of Lake Champlain visible, a glimpse of Baie Missisquoi HAB shows concentration around 800 to 900 thousand cells per 100 ml. The August 10 image completely clear shows the Baie Missisquoi HAB fills the northeast water and the channel south into the west channel past North Hero Island at a consistent concentration 900 thousand to 1 million cells per 100 ml. A clear image of August 7 showed a hot spot of extreme high concentration at the northeast shoreline, another at the center of the bluegreen bloom down the lake near Alburg Springs, up to 3 million cells per 100 ml on that day, no longer so high in concentration. The widespread HAB in St. Albans Bay appears to have shrunk down to a large localized HAB on the west side at low concentration, less than 100 thousand cells per 100 ml. Lake Carmi in Vermont lakewide HAB concentration is up, 1 to 2 million cells per 100 ml. The latest satellite images of Lake Champlain from the NCCOS are here.
Lake Erie west basin: Ohio, Michigan
The latest image from NCCOS was captured August 11 at a high surface wind speed 14.6 mph, a clear view of the Lake Erie HAB approximately 10 miles by 20 nautical miles in area, a large part of the interior of this blom at 1 million cells per 100 ml. The hot spot Sunday is once again found on the shore of Maumee Bay State Park, running the length of the park, the HAB becoming concentrated to 2 million cells as the mat piles up along the west side of Cedar Point. North Maumee Bay is also at the 1 to 2 million cells concentration. Algal toxin has not been updated since July 25, tested below the threshhold on that day, the satellite view of this HAB increased in concentration at the end of July and has maintained concentration above 1 million cells since. Swimmers are urged to avoid this beach even though it is not posted for algal toxin at the moment. EPA guidelines for two common algal toxin are given below. See the latest satellite images of west basin Lake Erie here.
California: The new bluegreen bloom report was expected Friday afternoon ahead of the weekend, not yet available as of this update Monday morning. We connected with EPA staff in Big Valley Pomo Tribe for an update on Clear Lake, a statement on the summer season and recent annual Tule Boat Festival is forthcoming, more to follow.
Last week's Recent Bloom report dated August 2 featured seven water bodies with DANGER level advisories, including Lago Los Osos, Lake Chabot, Lake Anza, Discovery Bay, Contra Loma Reservoir, Big Break Regional Shoreline and Copsey Creek. Three water bodies have been posted with HAB Warning level advisories over the last week, including Discovery Bay, Tahoe Keys and San Luis Reservoir's Dinosaur Point Boat Launch. Caution advisories have been activated for another 31 sites. See the California HAB tracker report with advisories by watershed region, HAB DANGER and WARNING advisories are pinned to the map with bluegreen tags, the full list is here.
See the North American drainage basin map here, scroll all the way down to see how surface water moves across the continent into the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Arctic Oceans. WT Media Group tells the story of water in three countries, Canada, USA and Mexico. See the drinking water advisories, hazardous spills, floods, drought and harmful algal blooms plotted on the maps, as the water flows. Check out the CrimeBox for historic prosecutions under the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act box for details on public drinking water facilities, interviews with the scientists and tech developers on the leading edge of clean water technology here.
As many drinking water facilities are supplied from surface water reservoirs, the streamflow situation is pertinent to both drinking water supply and quality. High flows can stir up sediment and cause turbidity in the reservoirs, requiring additional treatments to render the water potable. Low flow volume is linked to warmer temperatures in the reservoir and can be an issue for water quality where HABs are present. WT tracks streamflow trends with an eye to the impacts on drinking water supply and quality in each of the state's watersheds. Check the watershed layer on the map to see the direction of flow and streamflows that may be impacting drinking water today.
Harmful Algal Blooms: WT follows the movement and growth of harmful algal blooms (HABs) as provided by the satellite monitoring program of the NCCOS for New York's Lake Champlain, Ohio's Lake Erie and Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain and surrounding area. Interpretation of satellite images is best in clear conditions at wind speed less than 4 mph, where the appearance and extent of HABs is reliably matched to a color scale for concentration. HABs are known to produce algal toxins of concern for raw drinking water sources and recreational water bodies. Plan beach access to avoid HABs and consider carrying a rapid test kit to detect the toxin microcystins.
US EPA Health Advisories for public drinking water specify the maximum threshhold for two common algal toxins, microcystins and cylindrospermopsins, liver toxins produced by cyanobacteria. Note these levels are health advisories, not legally enforceable regulatory limits. Two levels are identified, separating the population by age. The first level applies to pre-school aged children, the second level applies for those age 6 and up. The EPA health advisory gives the maximum level of toxin that would not produce negative health impacts over a ten day period. For microcystins, .3 ug/L under 6 yrs old; 1.6 ug/L for 6 and older. For cylindrospermopsins, the toxin associated with the HAB Aphanizomenon the level for preschoolers is .7 ug/L, for those 6 and up, 3 ug/L.
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