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8/14/2024
WT Staff
 August 14, 2024 137 pm EDT
HAPPENING NOW
Ohoopee, Altamaha Rivers no longer flooding, seven more sites still running over
Fifty-three sites in the USGS streamflow network are currently monitoring flood events in the USA, leftovers from Tropical Storm Debby last week. Seven of these flood events are occurring now in south Georgia.
On the Atlantic side of the state drainage divide, Ogeechee River has come down another foot overnight, as of this report still two and a half feet above the channel through Chatham County. Flooding near Eden peaked Saturday morning in major flood stage, running seven feet over the channel bounds. Ogeechee was been receding steadily from Saturday to present, now in minor flood stage and leveling out, the rate of decline is slowing down. Savannah River is still flooding near Cylo, this flow peaked in moderate flood stage last weekend Saturday around 530 pm. The rate of decline measured at this station is steady, dropping almost a foot over 24 hours. At this rate, flooding should end here sometime Friday evening, unless hit with more rain.
Little Satilla River continues to flood near Offerman, currently a foot over minor flood stage. Little Satilla flood flow peaked August 7 in major flood stage, has been coming down slowly, about three inches in 24 hours. At this rate, the flooding may continue here into next week. Downstream at Atkinson, the Satilla River still runs more than four feet above the channel on a steady declining trend dropping a foot every 24 hours. Flow peaked here just after midnight August 11 in moderate flood stage, could possibly be tucked back inside the channel by Monday. St Mary's River is still flooding near MacClenny, FL and at Folkston Landing in Georgia, the latter site running in moderate flood stage close to double its normal channel depth. St Mary's floods here at 7 ft and this flow is close to 14 ft presently. Suwannee River is the only flooding water heading for the Gulf of Mexico from Georgia. The Suwannee River has another foot and four inches to go to get out of flood stage. Provisional data from the USGS just now indicates a sudden spike in water level, to be confirmed.
Ohoopee River got back inside its channel near Reidsville yesterday mid-afternoon, continues to recede on a steady pace and out of action stage this morning. Altamaha River receded back into the channel yesterday around 530 pm. For more details, see the map to the right, black tags indicate flood flow levels.
Groundwater wells in the flooded areas have been impacted and will require remediation to ensure potability. Wells supplying public utilities are managed as per the Safe Drinking Water Act, boil water advisories are in place until the flood subsides and tests confirm potability of the water supply. For those on private wells, the flood water must fully recede from around the well head before the surrounding surface area, casings and the water itself can be disinfected. Advice for sanitizing private wells from Georgia Coastal Health here.
Stay alert for drinking water advisories in your local area as surface and groundwater sources have been impacted by flooding. Call us for more information, 833-344-1114.
Hazardous Weather Outlook issued by NWS Peachtree City 1157 am Wed Aug 14
Isolated thunderstorms are expected in parts of the Northeast
Georgia mountains this afternoon. Severe weather is not expected.
The primary threats will be strong winds, heavy rain, and
frequent lightning.
Isolated thunderstorms will be possible in various portions of
the state Thursday through Tuesday. On Friday, a Marginal Risk
(Level 1 of 5) of severe weather is in effect for northwest
Georgia. The primary threats will be damaging wind gusts,
frequent lightning, and heavy rainfall.
Impacting Baldwin-Banks-Barrow-Bartow-Bibb-Bleckley-Butts-Carroll-Catoosa-
Chattahoochee-Chattooga-Cherokee-Clarke-Clayton-Cobb-Coweta-
Crawford-Crisp-Dade-Dawson-DeKalb-Dodge-Dooly-Douglas-Emanuel-
Fannin-Fayette-Floyd-Forsyth-Gilmer-Glascock-Gordon-Greene-
Gwinnett-Hall-Hancock-Haralson-Harris-Heard-Henry-Houston-Jackson-
Jasper-Jefferson-Johnson-Jones-Lamar-Laurens-Lumpkin-Macon-
Madison-Marion-Meriwether-Monroe-Montgomery-Morgan-Murray-
Muscogee-Newton-North Fulton-Oconee-Oglethorpe-Paulding-Peach-
Pickens-Pike-Polk-Pulaski-Putnam-Rockdale-Schley-South Fulton-
Spalding-Stewart-Sumter-Talbot-Taliaferro-Taylor-Telfair-Toombs-
Towns-Treutlen-Troup-Twiggs-Union-Upson-Walker-Walton-Warren-
Washington-Webster-Wheeler-White-Whitfield-Wilcox-Wilkes-
Wilkinson Counties
Jefferson County: Wrens Water System experienced a water main break Monday prompting a boil water order for all 2430 residents and 300 commercial water customers. Wrens supplies potable water from raw water sourced in groundwater wells through 900 metered residential connections and 300 commercial connections. Half the town was without water service as a result of this infrastructure breakdown Monday. All water customers have been advised to boil water intended for consumption, until further notice.
See the North American drainage basin map here, scroll all the way down to see how surface water moves across the continent into the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Arctic Oceans. WT Media Group tells the story of water in three countries, Canada, USA and Mexico. See the drinking water advisories, hazardous spills, floods, drought and harmful algal blooms plotted on the maps, as the water flows. Check out the CrimeBox for historic prosecutions under the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act box for details on public drinking water facilities, interviews with the scientists and tech developers on the leading edge of clean water technology here.
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.
Harmful Algal Blooms: WT follows the movement and growth of harmful algal blooms (HABs) as provided by the satellite monitoring program of the NCCOS for New York's Lake Champlain, Ohio's Lake Erie and Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain and surrounding area. Interpretation of satellite images is best in clear conditions at wind speed less than 4 mph, where the appearance and extent of HABs is reliably matched to a color scale for concentration. HABs are known to produce algal toxins of concern for raw drinking water sources and recreational water bodies. Plan beach access to avoid HABs and consider carrying a rapid test kit to detect the toxin microcystins.
US EPA Health Advisories for public drinking water specify the maximum threshhold for two common algal toxins, microcystins and cylindrospermopsins, liver toxins produced by cyanobacteria. Note these levels are health advisories, not legally enforceable regulatory limits. Two levels are identified, separating the population by age. The first level applies to pre-school aged children, the second level applies for those age 6 and up. The EPA health advisory gives the maximum level of toxin that would not produce negative health impacts over a ten day period. For microcystins, .3 ug/L under 6 yrs old; 1.6 ug/L for 6 and older. For cylindrospermopsins, the toxin associated with the HAB Aphanizomenon the level for preschoolers is .7 ug/L, for those 6 and up, 3 ug/L.
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