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9/20/2024
WT Staff
 Got water questions? Give us a call at 877-52-WATER (877-529-2837), or email us at info@watertoday.ca
September 20, 2024 928 am PDT
Severe drought downgraded to moderate in Colorado River watershed
Another calm weather day for California, according to the National Weather Service. No hazardous weather outlooks in effect as of this report.
Checking in with the National Hurricane Center in Miami for a look at what may be cooking up in the Pacific heading into the weekend, Tropical Weather Outlook issued 500 AM PDT this morning for the Central Portion of the East Pacific east of 140 degrees west longitude:
An area of low pressure could form well to the southwest of the southwestern coast of Mexico this weekend. Environmental conditions appear conducive for some slow development of this system, and a tropical depression could form by the middle part of next week while it slowly moves generally northward.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...near 0 percent.
* Formation chance through 7 days...medium...40 percent.
Streamflow Situation from the USGS network of streamflow gauges in California
Coastal and interior streamflows remain normal to much above the seasonal norm in all but the Colorado River watershed of the south state interior. Record low flow levels appear once again in the Alamo River near Niland, as New River near Westmoreland continues the extreme low level performance. Some relief on the drought map overnight, severe hydrologic drought conditions in Imperial and Riverside have eased off to moderate drought, matching up with the moderate rating in central San Bernardino County.
See the brown tags on the map to the right for low flow levels in the 1st percentile range, some of the lowest levels recorded on this date in eighty-one years of monitoring New River near Westmoreland and 63 years monitoring the Alamo River near Niland. No extreme high flows or flood events are recorded in the monitoring network as of this report.
WT HAB Tracker from the satellite monitoring program of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science(NCCOS), Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) and State sources where available
California
California Water Boards may be out with a new weekly HAB Update today, the frequency of reporting is usually weekly. The last freshwater HAB report was delivered last week Friday, Sept 13. For the past week there have been six HAB DANGER-level advisories, the highest category of bluegreen alert in the State public notification system. The impacted water bodies with Danger advisories include Lago Los Osos, Contra Loma Reservoir, Lake Anza, Big Break Regional Shoreline, Discovery Bay and Clear Lake. Four Warning-level advisories are posted for Discovery Bay, Clear Lake and San Luis Reservoir with fifteen caution advisories posted on California beaches.
Be sure to heed the specific safety measures to avoid inhaling, ingesting or absorbing cyanotoxins, see the bluegreen tags on the map to the right for the water bodies impacted.
No discussion of HABs is complete without follow-up testing for cyanotoxins. The presence of bluegreen algae does not guarantee the presence of cyanotoxins, this can only be established through analysis of the water samples. As laboratory water testing is costly and time consuming, local health authorities rely on observation of HABs, including the assistance of Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) to estimate concentration in order to decide when and where testing will be done. Given exposure to cyanotoxins above a maximum concentration is associated with permanent damage to vital organs in humans, the signs of which may not be felt until damage is done, it is prudent for local public health authorities to take a cautious approach when the toxicity status of a water body is unknown.
Big Valley Pomo Environmental Protection Agency has been leading the program of water monitoring for Clear Lake for more than a decade, including sampling and testing for cyanotoxins. Find the latest toxicity test results for Clear Lake here.
Check out the latest California HAB Tracker report, here, and see the bluegreen tags on the map to the right for more information.
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