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9/16/2024
WT Staff
 Got water questions? Give us a call at 877-52-WATER (877-529-2837), or email us at info@watertoday.ca
September 16, 2024 130 pm PDT
Severe drought in Colorado River watershed
Streamflow Situation from the USGS network of streamflow gauges in California
Record low flows in the New River and Alamo River are contributing to the severe hydrologic drought conditions continuing to plague Region 9 Colorado River watershed Monday. Imperial and Riverside Counties remain in the severe drought rating with central San Bernardino County downgraded to moderate drought over the weekend.
Coastal and interior watersheds are otherwise hanging in there with above normal to much above seasonal normal water levels for this date in the season. 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 near Westmoreland. Low flows increase the stress in water bodies as the temperature increases, contaminants are more concentrated, algae growth comes on and the dissolved oxygen levels drop.
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 Recent HAB Update of Friday, Sept 13 carries DANGER advisories on six recreational water bodies, including 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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