East Has Drought, West Is Unusually Wet

While the East Coast struggles with drought, many Midwestern and Far West states are reporting unusually wet conditions, the U.S Geological Survey reported last week.

“Record or near-record low streamflows--including some of the lowest April flows in nearly 50 years of record--were reported all along the East Coast from Maine to Florida in April,” the survey said in its monthly summary of water conditions.

Four record-low streamflows were recorded in Connecticut and other record lows were noted in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Georgia and North and South Carolina.

The Pomperaug River at Southbury, Conn., for example, averaged only 38.4 million gallons per day, a record low at 76% below normal.

By contrast, government water experts reported that “many streams in Michigan, Colorado, Missouri, New Mexico, Utah and Oregon averaged near record-high flows for April.”

The combination of wet and dry conditions resulted in the total flow of the nation’s three biggest rivers --the Mississippi, St. Lawrence and Columbia--averaging just over 1 billion gallons a day in April, 12% above normal for the month. The three drain about half of the 48 coterminous states.

Along the East Coast, the Survey reported that 60 stations measuring various rivers and streams recorded April flow rates within 25% of the record lows for those places.

Record low flows for April were set by the South Branch Raritan River, Great Egg Harbor River and Delaware River in New Jersey, the survey reported. Massapequa Creek in New York and the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania were also well below normal.

Near-record lows were recorded in the Rapidan and Nottoway rivers in Virginia and records were set by the South Yadkin and Cape Fear rivers in North Carolina and the Lynches, Pee Dee and Altamaha rivers in South Carolina.

These conditions led to declining reservoir levels, particularly in the Delaware River basin where the major supplies for New York City are stored. Key reservoirs in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, the Tennessee Valley and the Washington area were also well below normal.

Wells in the East were also responding to the low water conditions, particularly in New England, southeastern New York and New Jersey.

Of the 115 wells checked in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, the survey said, 98 were below normal and 41 were at record lows.

Moving inland, however, streamflows in Ohio and Indiana were near normal, although some low levels of water were reported in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Streams were generally near normal in the Great Lakes region and Mississippi River Valley, and flows were above average in many parts of the Great Plains states and Western areas.

The Gasconade River at Jerome, Mo., averaged 205% above normal water for the month and the flow was 175% above normal for the Animas River, which set a record high flow at Durango, Colo.

The Great Salt Lake rose 0.35 feet to 4,209.9 feet above mean sea level, the highest in more than a century.

Streamflows were generally well above average for the month in New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada and the Pacific Northwest.