WEEKLY WATER NEWS

DataStreme WES Week Seven: 10-14 March 2008

Water in the News:

(Thurs.) An Oregon county is ready for hazards -- The National Weather Service recently announced the Douglas County in southwestern Oregon has completed the Service's StormReady® and TsunamiReady™ programs designed to help the county to handle severe weather and tsunami events. [NOAA News]
(Thurs.) Marine sanctuaries get help from Army divers -- During a three-week pilot project, divers from the U.S. Army Dive Company are repairing buoy moorings, removing trash from dive sites, and installing listening devices to track fish at NOAA's national marine sanctuaries off the Florida and Georgia coasts. [NOAA News]
(Thurs.) Scientists use spacecraft for comparative planetology -- Scientists have been making simultaneous observations of the Martian and Venusian atmospheres obtained from the European Space Agency's Mars Express and Venus Express spacecraft in an attempt to determine the evolution of these planetary atmospheres. [ESA]
(Thurs.) Avalanches on Mars -- Images obtained from the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Experiment) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter last month represent the first ever documentation of active avalanches on the Martian surface near that planet's north pole. [NASA]
(Thurs.) Water quality has not improved in China's Three Gorges reservoir -- China's environmental protection agency has conceded that despite a clean-up project, the water quality of the Three Gorges reservoir has not improved substantially [US Water News Online]
(Tues.) A three-dimensional image of a deadly tornadic outbreak -- Images obtained from one of NOAA's GOES satellites and NASA's CloudSat satellite provides a three-dimensional perspective of the convective clouds associated with the tornado outbreak that claimed more than 50 lives in the lower Mississippi Valley on 5 February 2008. [NASA JPL]
(Tues.) Celebrate "International Polar Day" -- Wednesday, 12 March 2008, has been designated as the third "International Polar Day" with the focus upon the Changing Earth, Past & Present ice ages, paleoclimate, earth history. This series of quarterly International Polar Days coincides with the International Polar Year. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) World needs to tackle climate change issues now -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned that the world must face the issue of climate change now as the consequences could be extremely costly. This organization claims that without action, environmental damage could result in half the world's population not having adequate drinking water. [USA Today]
(Tues.) Decline in eel fishery foreseen -- A team of scientists of the US, Japan and the United Kingdom warn that the stocks of American eels are declining rapidly across the North Atlantic because of changes in the Sargasso Sea cause by the North Atlantic Oscillation which causes shifts in oceanic and atmospheric conditions. [NOAA News]
(Tues.) New method is developed to estimate sea ice thickness -- Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow have developed a new technique using sea ice motion data for estimating the thickness of Arctic sea ice over the 1982 to 2003 seasons. [USGS]
Eye on the tropics -- The South Indian Ocean basin remained active in terms of tropical cyclone activity last week. In the western sections of the basin, Tropical Cyclone Jokwe formed during the early part of the week and intensified, becoming a category 3 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Intensity Scale. It moved westward, brushing the northern end of Madagascar and the coast of Mozambique before turning to the south. As of late Sunday, this typhoon was traveling south across the Mozambique Channel. Images from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite show Jokwe as it moved between Madagascar and Mozambique. [NASA Earth Observatory] [NASA Hurricane Page]
Tropical Cyclone Kamba formed over the Southern Indian Ocean on Saturday southeast of Diego Garcia. As of late Sunday, this cyclone was traveling to the southwest.
In the eastern sections of the basin, Tropical Cyclone Ophelia, which had been a category 1 tropical cyclone, weakened and dissipated off the coast of northwestern Australia by midweek. An image obtained from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite shows the pattern of temperatures of the tops of the clouds surrounding Ophelia. [NASA Hurricane Page]
Ocean "deserts' seen to be expanding -- Researchers with NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service and the University of Hawaii using data from SeaWiFS (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor) on NASA’s SeaStar spacecraft have found that those areas of the world's oceans that are least biologically productive have been expanding possibly as a result of a warming of sea surface waters, resulting a desert-like environment. [NOAA News]
Impact of earlier springtime in the Rockies assessed -- A researcher at the University of Maryland reports that fewer wildflowers are blooming in the Rockies because warmer springtime weather conditions tend to reduce the snowpack across the mountains, resulting increased frost damage to the plants. [EurekAlert!]
Building snowpack makes Colorado happy -- Above average snowfall during the meteorological winter season (December through February) has built a snowpack across Colorado's Rocky Mountains that has brought water supplies across the state to the highest levels in over a decade. [USA Today]
Snow in Africa -- An image obtained from the European Meteosat9 satellite shows the snow cover across the mountains of northern Algeria and Tunisia. [NOAA OSEI]
Southeastern water negotiations have failed -- The US Secretary of the Interior recently acknowledged that the water negotiations between Alabama, Florida and Georgia brokered by the White House have failed. [US Water News Online]
Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, including drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
Global Water News Watch -- Other water news sources can be obtained through the SAHRA Project at the University of Arizona [SAHRA Project]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

REPORT FROM THE FIELD -- Joe Zabransky, a DataStreme LIT member and retired faculty member at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, reported last week that the Plymouth area was approaching their all-time seasonal snowfall record. He had more than 40 inches of snow on the ground and he had been shoveling snow every two to three days since early December, resulting in giant snow piles in his yard. He was also concerned about water in his basement as the snow melt begins. The nearby Pemigewasset River would likely flood.

Concept of the Week: Dams and Ecological Integrity

Although there are many positive aspects to dams (e.g., flood control, recreation, hydropower generation), dams also can disrupt the natural seasonal fluctuations in the flow of rivers and streams with potentially serious consequences for the integrity of aquatic ecosystems. For one, dams interfere with the upstream and downstream migration of fish. Storage of water in reservoirs behind dams reduces the downstream discharge of water, sediment, and nutrients. These and other alterations of fluvial habitats threaten or endanger more than 20% of all freshwater species.

The ecological impact of dams is extensive because these structures affect so much runoff. Worldwide, almost 3000 dams have a reservoir storage capacity exceeding 25 billion gallons-a combined volume roughly equivalent to all the water in Lakes Michigan and Ontario. The more than 70,000 dams in the U.S. can store half of the annual flow of all the nation's rivers and streams.

The continuity of the global water cycle implies that disruption of river and stream flow by dams can also impact marine and lacustrine (lake) ecosystems. In the Pacific Northwest, for example, only about 5% of juvenile salmon survive passage through dams and reservoirs on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Salmon are anadromous, that is, they spawn in freshwater streams, but spend most of their adult life in the ocean. After hatching, young salmon (smolts) swim downstream to the Pacific Ocean, where they mature and then return to the same streams to spawn. But the 56 major dams in the Columbia River watershed are formidable obstacles to salmon migration. Largely ineffective are fish ladders designed to help the salmon move upstream and other structures that guide them downstream around hydroelectric turbines. (These turbines have been likened to giant food processors for smolt attempting to swim through them.) Furthermore, smolts on their downstream passage are held up in reservoirs where they are exposed to predators, pathogens (disease-producing organisms), and water that is too warm. Atlantic salmon have a similar fate. More than 900 dams on New England and European rivers prevent most Atlantic salmon from reaching their freshwater spawning grounds. Consequently, their population has declined to less than 1% of historical levels.

Traditionally, dam operators regulate stream and river flow for flood control and to supply water for electric power generation and irrigation. But recently, in response to greater awareness of the adverse impacts of dams on aquatic ecosystems, has come a growing interest in operating dams in ways that recreate the river's natural seasonal flow pattern and habitats. For example, this type of management is employed on the Flaming Gorge Dam on the Green River in Utah to protect sensitive habitats for endangered species including chubs and squawfish. The dam operator simulates spring floods of the pre-dam era by releasing a surge of water in May that facilitates fish spawning.

Controlled flooding has been used on the segment of the Colorado River that flows through the Grand Canyon in an attempt to help restore landforms and aquatic habitats downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam. Before the dam first came into operation in 1956, natural floods regularly delivered sediment from the tributaries of the Colorado River. Sand and silt built sandbars and created backwaters that provided habitat for a variety of native plant and fish species such as the humpback chub and razor sucker. The humpback chub, for example, prefers the warmer and murkier waters associated with sandbars. With the dam in full operation, sand and silt was trapped in the reservoir upstream from the dam and the sandbars and backwater habitats were gradually destroyed. The number of humpback chub in the Grand Canyon declined from about 8300 in 1993 to about 2000 today and the species is close to extinction. In an attempt to restore downstream habitats, in March 1996 a huge gusher of water was released from the Glen Canyon Dam and a fresh influx of sediment built new beaches and sandbars. But these landforms and habitats disappeared within a few months. Now the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is proposing a new flood plan based on lessons learned from the 1996 flood. The plan is to release floodwaters from the Glen Canyon Dam for a shorter period of time (2.5 days instead of the 7-day 1996 flood) and only after a sufficient buildup of sediment so that floodwaters construct sandbars and beaches rather than washing them away.

Concept of the Week: Questions

Alteration of aquatic habitats by dams [(is)(is not)] a reason why some fish species become threatened or endangered.
Anadromous species of fish spawn in [(the ocean)(freshwater rivers and streams)].

Historical Events:

10 March 1869...Dust from African simooms (siroccos) resulted in a reddish-colored snow falling in central France. People thought its color came from blood. A similarly colored snow fell on 13 February 1870, while a red colored rain fell on Isle-sur-Serein on 30 October 1926. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
11 March 1864...The Great Sheffield Flood, the largest human-caused disaster ever to befall England, killed over 250 people in Sheffield. (Wikipedia)
11 March 2002...The National Ice Center reported that satellite images indicated that an iceberg with an area larger than the state of Delaware had calved from the Thwaites Ice Tongue, a region of snow and glacial ice extending from the Antarctic mainland into the South Amundsen Sea (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
12 March 1888...A blizzard paralyzed southeastern New York State and western New England. The storm produced 58 inches of snow at Saratoga NY, and 50 inches at Middletown CT. Record low temperatures followed the blizzard. The combination of cold and snow claimed 400 lives. New York City received 20.9 inches of snow and Albany NY reported 46.7 inches. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
12 March 1928...The large concrete St. Francis Dam in the San Francisquito Canyon of southern California near Los Angeles failed, killing more than 400 people. (Wikipedia)
12 March 1954...A blizzard raged from eastern Wyoming into the Black Hills of western South Dakota, while a severe ice storm was in progress from northeastern Nebraska to central Iowa. The ice storm isolated 153 towns in Iowa. Dust from the Great Plains caused brown snow, and hail and muddy rain over parts of Wisconsin and Michigan. (11th-13th) (The Weather Channel)
12 March 1967...A tremendous four-day storm raged across California. Winds of 90 mph closed mountain passes, heavy rains flooded the lowlands, and in sixty hours Squaw Valley, CA was buried under 96 inches (eight feet) of snow. (David Ludlum)
12 March 1988...A violent hailstorm struck Katmandu, Nepal during a soccer game at the national stadium. About 80 fans seeking shelter were trampled to death because some of the stadium doors were locked. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
13 March 1907...A storm produced a record 5.22 inches of rain in 24 hours at Cincinnati, OH. (12^th-13^th) (The Weather Channel)
13 March 1977...Baltimore MD received an inch of rain in eight minutes. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders - 1987)
13-15 March 1952...The world's 5-day rainfall record was set when a tropical cyclone produced 151.73 inches of rain at Cilos, Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. The 73.62 inches that fell in a 24-hour period (15^th-16^th) set the world's 24-hour rainfall record. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
13 March 1993...The "Great Blizzard of '93" clobbered the eastern US and produced perhaps the largest swath of heavy snow ever recorded. Heavy snow was driven to the Gulf Coast with 3 inches falling at Mobile, AL and up to 5 inches reported in the Florida Panhandle, the greatest single snowfall in the state's history. Thirteen inches blanketed Birmingham, AL to set not only a new 24 hour snowfall record for any month, but also set a record for maximum snow depth, maximum snow for a single storm, and maximum snow for a single month. Tremendous snowfall amounts occurred in the Appalachians. Mount Leconte in Tennessee recorded an incredible 60 inches. Mount Mitchell in North Carolina was not far behind with 50 inches. Practically every official weather station in West Virginia set a new 24-hour record snowfall. Farther to the north, Pittsburgh, PA measured 25 inches, Albany, NY checked in with 27 inches, and Syracuse, NY was buried under 43 inches. The major population corridor from Washington, DC to Boston, MA was not spared this time as all the big cities got about a foot of snow before a changeover to rain. A rather large amount of thunderstorm activity accompanied the heavy snow. Winds to hurricane force in gusts were widespread. Boston recorded a gust to 81 mph, the highest wind gust at that location since hurricane Edna in 1954. Numerous cities in the south and mid Atlantic states recorded their lowest barometric pressure ever as the storm bottomed out at 960 millibars (28.35 inches) over Chesapeake Bay. Some 208 people were killed by the storm and total damage was estimated at $6 billion-- the costliest extratropical storm in history. (Intellicast)
14 March 1944...A single storm brought a record 21.6 inches of snow to Salt Lake City UT. (The Weather Channel)
14 March 1960...Northern Georgia was between snowstorms. Gainesville GA received 17 inches of snow during the month, and reported at least a trace of snow on the ground on 22 days in March. Snow was on roofs in Hartwell, GA from the 2nd to the 29th. (The Weather Channel)
15 March 1952...Over 72 (73.62) inches of rain fell on Cilaos, Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean, the greatest global 24-hour total rainfall. (The Weather Doctor)
15 March 1988...More than one hundred hours of continuous snow finally came to an end at Marquette MI, during which time the city was buried under 43 inches of snow. Unseasonably cold weather prevailed in the southeastern U.S., with forty-one cities reporting record low temperatures for the date. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
16 March 1889...A war between the U.S. and Germany was likely averted as a hurricane sank all three U.S. and three German warships in the harbor at Apia, Samoa. Joint U.S., German and Samoan rescue efforts led to the Treaty of Berlin (1889) that later settled the dispute. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
16 March 1975...A single storm brought 119 inches of snow to Crater Lake OR establishing a state record. (The Weather Channel)
16 March 1987...Softball-size hail caused millions of dollars damage to automobiles at Del Rio TX. Three persons were injured when hailstones crashed through a shopping mall skylight. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (The Weather Channel)
16 March 1989...A winter storm brought heavy snow and high winds to the southwestern U.S. Winds gusted to 60 mph at Lovelock NV, Salt Lake City UT, and Fort Carson CO. Snow fell at a rate of three inches per hour in the Lake Tahoe area of Nevada. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)