10/29/2024
WT Staff
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October 29, 2024 945 am EDT
Conserve water notice issued in Orange County as the drought drops water levels in the reservoir
The Town of Monroe is asking residents to conserve water as the lack of rainfall, low streamflows and drought conditions have dropped the level in the reservoir. Town of Monroe established 1799 is operates seven water treatment plants in Orange County, each licensed separately. The water districts impacted by the voluntary water conservation request include:
- Water District 1 - High Ridge, population 308, served by surface water source purchased from another licensed facility in Orange County
- Water District 2 - STRL Heights-Hor Manor with 128 residents supplied by a groundwater source
- Water District 7 - Oreco Terrace - distributes potable water to 47 residents served with surface water purchased from another facility
- Water District 8 - Skyview Hills - distributes potable water to 544 residents with surface water purchased from another licensed facility
- Water District 10 - Pine Tree Road - distributes potable water to 50 residents with surface water purchased from another licensed facility
- Water District 12 - Monroe Hills Estates - serves potable water to 196 residents from a groundwater well source in Orange County
- Water District 14 - Orchard Hills Estates - serves potable water to 196 residents from a groundwater well source in Orange County
Orange County is in the Lower Hudson River watershed, rated below normal on the USGS drought map for some time. The below normal streamflows are clearly impacting drinking water supplies in the area, including surface reservoirs and groundwater wells which may not be refreshing underground as fast as the water is withdrawn. Watch for reports of HABs and spills in the region as the water levels are lower and this tends to concentrate nutrients and contaminants spilled. Turn on the watershed layer to view the water events occurring in the same drainage area as Monroe, depicted on the map with a brown tag for low water level.
Check here for the latest hazardous spill report for NYS,
and the latest report of NYS water bodies impacted by HABs this season.
Streamflow Situation from the USGS network of streamflow gauges
Lake Champlain watershed has come down a notch in the drought ratings, from extreme to severe hydrologic drought overnight. To the west, St. Lawrence County remains in severe drought along the Raquette River channel through central St Lawrence County with the area immediately to the west raised up to moderate drought from below normal rating yesterday. The majority of surface area of NYS is rated below normal, Lake Ontario minor tributaries west section remains at moderate drought, as determined by the 7-day streamflow average compared with historic water levels in Niagara, Orleans and west Monroe Counties. With the exception of Genesee, Upper Mohawk and lower Chemung Rivers, the upper Delaware watershed and a section of the Lower Hudson river watershed unrated, all other parts of NYS are rated, at minimum, below normal.
As of this report, there are four low flows reported as provisional data from USGS monitors around the state, one of these, Raquette River is at the extreme, 1st percentile low flow at Raymondville.
WT HAB Tracker from the satellite monitoring program of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science(NCCOS) and NYS DEC
New York
Seventy-six HABs are confirmed on the DEC notifications board Tuesday morning, down from 79 yesterday. East Branch Reservoir is confirmed with first bluegreen bloom of the season. No new reports have been confirmed since our last update. Reports made prior to Oct 14 have moved into the archive file, that set of records is up to 1986 for the 2024 season. The combined active and archived HAB reports by water body list is available, here.
The latest satellite image of Lake Champlain was captured Oct 28, the first clear image in many days running. Again we see a clear Lake Champlain and lakewide HAB in Lake Carmi in Vermont, around the 600 thousand cells per ml range of concentration. This is considered a high concentration, and according to the NCCOS Program, where HABs are observed, the cyanotoxins must be presumed to be there as well. If the local health authorities are following this program, they will be testing Lake Carmi and posting the appropriate warning signage.
WTNY spoke with a staff member of Vermont Department of Health in the summer regarding testing in Baie Missisquoi, at the time that bloom had been widespread at extreme high concentration, 2 to 3 million cells per ml. We reported at that time that testing for the cyanotoxins was not being done in Vermont. More to follow.
See the NCCOS color image of Lake Champlain here.
Safe Drinking Water Advisories
Rensselaer County: The Town of Brunswick issued a BWA last week Friday following repairs made in the distribution system. The boil advisory impacted customers east of McChesney Ave, Hoosick Road east of Route 142, Route 2, and Pinewoods east to Mountain View Area. Sycaway and the Northlake below the reservoir were not impacted by the boil order. The Town of Brunswick operates more than one licensed water treatment facility. The Brunswick Consolidated Water District serves 7050 residents with surface water purchased from another facility. This facility has Safe Drinking Water Act non-compliance records with the EPA for 12 of the last 12 quarters, including unaddressed violations of the Consumer Confidence Rule and lack of monitoring and reporting of Lead and Copper in the distribution system.
See the latest EPA - SDWA Compliance Report for NYS, October 2024, here.
See prior quarter EPA - SDWA Compliance Report for NYS, July 2024, here.
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