8/9/2024
WT Staff
 August 10, 2024 updated 310 pm EDT
HAPPENING NOW
Aftermath of Tropical Depression Debby, flooding update
Tropical Depression Debby found a new gear Friday tracking overland from the Carolinas gaining speed as she crossed the northeast states and off into Canada. A State of Emergency was declared in New York yesterday ahead of the expected inundation.
Steuben County was hit hard Friday afternoon. Tuscarora Creek was running just under a foot deep Friday morning, the rain spiking a flash flood after the noon hour. Action stage, 8 ft deep was initiated around 115 pm with the flood breach occurring just fifteen minutes later at 130. Tuscarora Creek flooding hit peak flow over 12 feet deep within a matter of 90 minutes from the first breach of the channel. As people became trapped in homes and cars, high water rescues and medical evacuation teams were dispatched in Steuben County. According to provisional data from the USGS streamflow monitors, the creek was back inside its channel by 530 pm leaving the County and residents to begin clean up and recovery.
Susquehanna River is currently flooding at Conklin, in action stage at Waverly. Flood stage was breached at Conklin around 6pm last evening, peaked above 13 feet around 130 am this morning, currently running half a foot above flood stage on a steady declining flow trend. West Branch Delaware River is still flooding close to two feet above the channel limits at Walton, from a water level around 6 ft deep Friday morning, flash flooding struck Walton, action stage initiated around 230 pm, flood stage breached at 430 pm. Peak flow occurred at 6 am this morning just north of 11.5 ft. The water level is receding now, still recorded above 11 ft deep. St. Regis River is currently in flood stage at Brasher Center as Debby rumbled over the border into Canada. Action stage initiated at 1045 pm last night, minor flood stage breached at 1 am this morning, peaked at moderate flood stage 12 ft at 715 am this morning, currently receding, running 11.86 ft deep. Great Chazy River is still rising at Perry Mills. More to follow.
According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) year-to-date tally to the end of July 2024, Debby is one of three weather and climate disasters tracking to become a billion dollar disaster once all the damages are assessed. NOAA tracks the trends, averaging the number of billion dollar and higher disasters from 1980 to 2023. Over that 43 year period, average annual billion dollar weather disasters: 8.5. Over the most recent five years, 2019-2023 the average has shot up to 20.4. Partway into the eighth month of 2024, 19 disasters are confirmed above one billion with three pending the classification, including Debby.
Follow us here for streamflow tracking and impacts to drinking water supplies and quality. Drinking water advisories are located on the map in yellow, active flood events with black tags, extreme low flows in brown, bluegreen algae in, you guessed it, bluegreen.
WT HAB Tracker from state sources and where available, the satellite monitoring program of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
New York
Two hundred and thirty-six bluegreen outbreaks are confirmed in New York State Saturday afternoon, up from 230 Friday. Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn is back on the HAB impacted sheet. A number of unnamed ponds in Colonie Crossings Park are impacted by HABs, not the first of the season for this area. Washington Park Pond is also back on the active HABs list with six active blooms reported Aug 8 in Albany County confirmed yesterday. All reports made prior to July 28 have been archived. See bluegreen tags on the map for impacted water bodies with at least one active HAB, updates are in progress as reports are confirmed throughout the day. The list is here.
The latest image in from NCCOS was snapped August 8, this one mostly cloud obscured with very little of Lake Champlain visible. The Baie Missisquoi HAB is visible between clouds around the Alburg-Swanton bridge at an elevated concentration upward of 1 million cells per 100 ml. The situation has escalated in these last two images, the first new information received since August 4. The image of August 7 shows the expansion of 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. Widespread HAB south of Alburg-Swanton Bridge on the west side of North Hero Island is 1 million cells concentration. The south reach of this bloom observed Aug 7 west of North Hero Island shifting toward Isle la Motte. The widespread HAB in St. Albans Bay is expanding south past Melville Landing toward Grand Isle, holding the concentration at 600 thousand. Lake Carmi in Vermont is still full of phytoplankton according to the sat image, concentration 800 to 900 thousand cells per 100 ml.
Lake Erie west basin: Ohio, Michigan
The latest image from NCCOS was captured August 9 at wind speed 16.9 mph, a lovely clear view of the Lake Erie HAB approximately 8 miles by 17 miles in area, increasing in concentration. Several areas of hot spots have developed, the majority of the bloom now over 1 million cells with Maumee Bay State Park full length of beach appearing 2 million cells per 100 ml, the Maumee Bay west side edging up on 2 million cells, the North Maumee Bay area with another hot spot about the same. A recreational public health advisory had been posted July 19 for algal toxin found five times over the limit in Maumee Bay State Park. This advisory has since been rescinded by Ohio Department of Health, however the satellite image suggests beach-goers continue to exercise caution. EPA guidelines for two common algal toxin are given below. See the last Ohio HAB report here.
Louisiana: The latest upload from the NCCOS was captured August 9 at wind speed 8.7 mph. This is a partially cloud obscured view of the southeast water bodies. Once again we see no HABs or too low concentration to visualize in Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas. The large HAB spotted in the last image in Lake Cataouache west half is still visible between clouds at midlake, around 400 thousand cells. Lac des Allemands lakewide HAB is experiencing some shifting of the hot spot from west to the southeast. The majority of the lake is filled with HAB at 900 thousand cells; patches of higher concentration appear through the center of the bloom midlake to the southeast at 1.5 million cells. Lakes Verret and Palourde appear with lakewide blooms around 800 to 900 thousand cells per 100 ml. Water south of Lake Palourde carries a lakewide HAB around 1 million cells, calmed down from 2 million. The Burnside pond and Wetland Watchers Park are still at extreme high concentration, 2 - 3 million cells per 100 ml. Keep pets leashed around these water bodies to avoid contact with high concentration HAB mats and scum, the likelihood of toxins is high in these conditions. See the full report here.
California: The new bluegreen bloom report was expected Friday afternoon ahead of the weekend, not yet available as of this update Saturday afternoon. We connected with EPA staff in Big Valley Pomo Tribe Friday evening about 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.
Georgia:
Georgia's Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island beaches continue to meet the safety threshhold for bacteria Saturday. 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.
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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