U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, WRD New York District, Troy, NY WATER RESOURCES REVIEW AND CURRENT CONDITIONS STATEMENT FOR DECEMBER 2000 Prepared January 3, 2001 Troy Subdistrict--Summary Report Provisional streamflow conditions at sites monitored and included in this report in eastern New York were in the normal to excessive range. The percent of median flow increased from November to December at all these sites. Adjustments were made to some sites due to ice effect during the month. Extreme ice conditions were reported for Sacandaga River near Hope, Schoharie Creek at Prattsville, Wallkill River at Gardiner, Wappinger Creek near Wappingers Falls, and Independence River at Donnattsburg, and therefore these sites were not included in this report. Warmer temperatures, rain, and snowmelt caused rises in streamflow December 17-18. Record rainfall for December 17 (2.79 inches, previous = 1.34 inches) fell in the Capital Region. Communities in Columbia, Orange, Saratoga, Sullivan, Ulster, and Washington counties declared a state of emergency. The provisional instantaneous peak discharge for the month at Beaver Kill at Cooks Falls was 34,400 cfs on December 17 and is the second highest peak of record (88 years; maximum = 42,900 cfs, 1/19/96). The recurrence interval of the peak flow is about 50 years. Ithaca Subdistrict--Summary Report Provisional streamflow conditions at sites monitored and included in this report for western New York were in the normal range at Susquehanna River at Conklin, Chenango River at Chenango Forks, Tonawanda Creek at Batavia, and Oatka Creek at Garbutt. Sites at Chemung River at Chemung and Allegheny River at Salamanca returned to the normal range after being deficient the previous month. Genesee River at Wellsville remained in the deficient range for the second consecutive month. All sites were adjusted for backwater from ice. Coram Subdistrict--Summary Report December mean flow at Connetquot Brook near Central Islip was in the normal range. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Provisional Data for December 2000# INDEX STREAMFLOW STATIONS (Reference period 1961-90)
## Reference period for this site is 1978-99. e Estimate. # Note: Flow statistics based on data collected through December 31, 2000. MONTHLY MEAN DISCHARGE FOR INDEX STREAMFLOW STATIONS
Provisional Data for December 2000# MEAN FLOW FOR SELECTED GAGING STATIONS Percent of median Flow for month Station (cfs) (period of record) **01413500 E Br Delaware River at Margaretville 487 163 **01420500 Beaver Kill at Cooks Falls 1,020 185 01423000 W Br Delaware River at Walton 784 127 01512500 Chenango River near Chenango Forks e2,950 123 01531000 Chemung River at Chemung e1,050 88 03011020 Allegheny River at Salamanca 2,410 82 04217000 Tonawanda Creek at Batavia 211 86 *04221000 Genesee River at Wellsville e278 62 04230500 Oatka Creek at Garbutt e136 64 ** Excessive. e Estimate. * Deficient. LAKES AND RESERVOIRS Elevation & Storage at End of Month Reservoirs (Storage in million cubic feet) Current Year Last Year Average 01314500 Indian Lake nr Indian Lake, NY 3,780 3,531 2,842 01323500 Great Sacandaga Lake at Conklinville 23,050 19,360 18,760 04295000 Richelieu River (Lake Champlain) at Rouses Point, NY - Elevation in ft above sea level December 31, 2000 95.80 December 31, 1999 95.55 Average (1939-99) 95.50 Maximum daily 100.02 (1984) Minimum daily 93.25 (1954) New York City reservoir system was at 91.4 percent of capacity on December 31, 2000. Normal for this period is 77.6 percent of capacity. # Note: Flow statistics based on data collected through December 31, 2000. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Provisional Data for December 2000 INDEX OBSERVATION WELLS The observation-well network generally reflects conditions in water-table sand and gravel aquifers and does not necessarily reflect conditions in confined and bedrock aquifers. Water levels in N1259, N1616, Q1249, Sa-1100, S1806, and S1810 have been affected by changes in ground-water withdrawals or sewering. Departure from Median County Well No. Date Water Level (through 1999) Albany A-636 12/28 9.45 + 0.92 Broome Bm-121 12/28 20.13 + 6.75 Cattaraugus Ct-121 unavailable Chautauqua Cu-10 unavailable Chemung Cm-46 12/28 24.61 - .36 Chenango Cn-12 12/28 8.30 + .75 Cortland C-102 12/28 6.49 - 1.27 Dutchess Du-1009 unavailable Kings *K1194 12/19 9.02 - .38 Madison M-178 12/13 8.51 - 1.12 Nassau *N1259 12/19 45.38 - 5.23 Nassau *N1616 12/19 68.58 - 3.42 Oneida Oe-151 12/29 26.06 - 2.95 Otsego Og-23 unavailable Queens *Q1249 12/19 25.95 - 4.71 St. Lawrence St-40 12/31 6.06 + .43 Saratoga Sa-1100 unavailable Steuben Sb-472 unavailable Suffolk *S1806 12/19 51.55 - 3.21 Suffolk *S1810 12/19 49.40 - 1.08 Suffolk *S1812 12/21 46.01 + 1.17 Suffolk *S4271 12/19 10.91 + .18 Suffolk *S5517 12/19 41.41 + 1.04 Suffolk *S8833 12/20 14.89 - .97 Wyoming Wo-4 unavailable * Water level in feet below land-surface datum unless site noted with * which indicates reference to sea level.
