5/2/2024
WT Staff
HAPPENING NOW
Lake Champlain on NCCOS satellite HABS monitoring
Glens Falls BWA
Water news for Thursday, May 2, 2024 update 119 pm EDT
Drinking Water Matters
The Glens Falls City Water Department issued a boil water advisory due to a water main break Monday. Customers in Clark Street, Reservoir Road, and Old Forge Road have been impacted.
Hazardous Algae Bloombr
National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) has expanded the national HABs surveillance program to include a new site in New York. Lake Champlain is now covered under the monitoring program, giving us an expanded gallery of satellite views of the growing HAB concern over the North American continent. Up to now, WT has tracked the efforts of multiple agencies and the public, all coordinated to report to a central HABs hub managed by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. The limiting factor of the surface-based HABs observation and reporting is the monitoring season ends mid November, even with active HAB reports on the radar. This NYS ground-based monitoring season resumes in May each year, not open as of this report.
NCCOS satellite monitoring program offers images of certain water bodies throughout the year. The view is often limited by cloud cover and high wind speed, however, it does give an ongoing awareness of HAB activity that we would not otherwise have. Up to now, WT has followed the seasonal HABs reports for NY, the year-round NCCOS HABs monitoring for Ohio's Lake Erie west basin and Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain, including the water bodies of southeast Louisiana. With the added dimension of satellite imaging of Lake Champlain, we have another tool in the kit for the interpretation of HAB activity in the WT network.
HABs occur naturally in surface water, including rivers and lakes. The growth of scum mats associated with production of toxins is exacerbated by excess nutrients, shallower water and warmer temperatures.
The latest image supplied from NCCOS was captured April 28 at unknown surface wind speed. The image is mostly cloud obscured. An image from April 26 offers a clear view to the water indicating dozens of small localized blooms at moderate concentration 100 thousand cells per 100 ml along the east and west shorelines and island shorelines of Lake Champlain, more to follow as updates are made on the map and a detailed report is prepared for the HABs button on the right of the map.
WT USA Flows and Flood Tracker provisional data from the network of USGS streamflow monitors
Sixty-eight streamflow gauges record flooding in the USA Thursday, down from seventy-five on Wednesday. WT tracks the nation's most common natural disaster dynamics through the states of New York, Ohio, Georgia and Louisiana. As of this report we see three active floods, all in Louisiana.
Bayou Anococo got out of flood stage last evening, currently on a declining trend near Rosepine in Region 4. Sabine River continues to overflow in the lower channel near Ruliff, TX, up overnight by three inches. Calcasieu River is on a very slight declining trend, still more than a foot over the channel near Glenmora in Region 4. North in Region 1 Bayou Bodcau is holding a slow, steady decline trend, down another three inches in the last 24 hours, just shy of 8 feet over flood stage Thursday. At this rate of decline, the flooding could continue near Shreveport for another three weeks or more.
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.
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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