2/8/2024
WT Staff
HAPPENING NOW
Harmful Algal Bloom - HABs review
Clean Water planning for 2024: Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
Water news for Thursday, February 8, 2024 - updated 1242 pm EST
Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) surveillance update
As NYS takes a break over the winter from HAB reporting, we can refer out to the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science HABs monitoring program elsewhere in the USA for a glimpse of certain inland water bodies by satellite. WTOH.us and WTLA.us report daily on full color satellite imaging captured by Copernicus II, giving a look at the HABs extent and concentration in the west basin of Lake Erie and the water bodies of southeast Louisiana.
Here we observe HAB activity goes on through the cold season in Lake Erie, and persist through the full calendar down south near the Gulf of Mexico, at the end of the longest drainage run in the continent. What these winter images show us is that HABs persist in the cold water, albeit at lesser extent and lower concentrations. This encourages us to keep up our HABs vigilance even in the cold season.
While the NY DEC HAB monitoring program takes a break from accepting new HAB reports, WTNY.us will take the time leading up to spring to delve into HAB reports and records of the last five years. We will be looking into the Finger Lakes region where the HABs are most prevalent. We will take a closer look at the Clean Water planning and Total Maximum Daily Load plans set to limit escape of the nutrients that feed HABs to protect water quality in specific lakes. More to follow.
Drinking Water Matters
Middleville issued a BWA following a water main break on Route 28 South on Tuesday. The BWA applies to all customers connecting from the west side of the Village, until further notice.
Streamflow Situation from USGS WaterWatch
USGS Provisional data supplied continuously from sensors installed in the waterways of NYS send a picture of the streamflow volume in color. Rated stations are those that have been monitored for many years, often decades, establishing a historic average flow volume for each day of the year. THe current measurements are compared with the historic average flow for the date and location, and a rating is given, from low to high. A glance at the streamflow map of NYS gives an understanding of the surface water moving through the drainage basins, the northeast section heading north to the St Lawrence River and out to the Atlantic Ocean, the central drainage basin with a resident population of 15 million, main water body being the Hudson River, with all its tributary flows heading down to Long Island Sound. The northwest drainage basin drains the Finger Lakes region of interior NYS, the west side states bordering on Lake Erie. The southwest corner flows west to the Ohio River system and eventually to the Gulf of Mexico via Mississippi River. At last we have the southeast drainage, the Delaware, the Susquehanna, the Ramapo Rivers and their tributaries, draining the south interior of NYS out to the Atlantic via Chesapeake Bay.
The current streamflow is the color green of seasonal normal flow volume in the west and south drainage areas, the northeast and central basins are the teal color indicating above normal. Half a dozen individual stations show up in the dark blue of a much above normal rating, over 90th percentile, scattered through the Finger Lakes region and the central region. One station shows up in the bright orange color indicating an extreme low flow value, 1st percentile. This outlier could be a sign of a malfunctioning sensor, the data we receive from USGS is provisional, meaning that it has to be verified. This is the early warning system underpinning our flood and drought awareness, and our daily reporting here.
As of Thursday, no flooding is recorded in NYS, no extreme high flows. The one station recording extreme low may be misfiring, we will check in with New York Water Science Center to confirm. More to follow.
National Weather Service expansion of Advanced Hydrololigic Prediction Service
See the Special Feature for more on the expansion of river flooding intelligence and planning from the NWS. Flood inundation mapping and forecasting combined with a national flood hazard tool dashboard help emergency managers quickly zero in on areas of high impact flooding to get ahead of the damage. High quality engineered flood walls can be set up before the event to minimize disruption, protect lives and drinking water sources. See the Special Feature down the page on WTNY.us for more.
Drought Map USGS 7-day average streamflow against seasonal average
No part of NYS appears on the drought map Thursday.
USGS Provisional Data Statement
Data are provisional and subject to revision until they have been thoroughly reviewed and received final approval. Current condition data relayed by satellite or other telemetry are automatically screened to not display improbable values until they can be verified.
Provisional data may be inaccurate due to instrument malfunctions or physical changes at the measurement site. Subsequent review based on field inspections and measurements may result in significant revisions to the data.
Data users are cautioned to consider carefully the provisional nature of the information before using it for decisions that concern personal or public safety or the conduct of business that involves substantial monetary or operational consequences. Information concerning the accuracy and appropriate uses of these data or concerning other hydrologic data may be obtained from the USGS.
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