January 2010 USGS Maryland-Delaware-DC Water Conditions Summary

Precipitation in January was below normal in Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia, but water levels remain above normal because of the preceding exceptionally wet period. Water levels were above normal in 25 of the 29 streams and 21 of the 26 wells used by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to assess response to climatic conditions in Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. The remaining water levels were in the normal range.

Precipitation

Precipitation was below normal in Delaware, Maryland, and the District of Columbia in January, according to the National Weather Service. The Hagerstown weather station does not have enough record to calculate statistics. For the last 365 days, departures from normal precipitation ranged from 6.3 inches below normal in Garrett County to 17.3 inches above normal in Caroline County.

Source: National Weather Service
MD and DC: http://www.weather.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=lwx
DE: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/phi/
Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/marfc/Maps/precip.html

Streamflow

Monthly mean streamflow dropped from unusually high levels in December, however, 25 of the 29 USGS streamflow stations used to assess climatic conditions in Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia, were above normal. Streamflow at the remaining 4 sites was normal.

Monthly mean streamflow on the Chicamacomico River dropped from the record high in December to just above normal in January. The dark line in the 5-year hydrograph represents the current flow and the white band shows the normal range based on the period of record.

Five-year hydrographs for these streams can be viewed at: http://md.water.usgs.gov/surfacewater/streamflow/

Groundwater

Groundwater levels were above normal in 21 wells, and normal in 5 of the 26 wells used by the USGS to assess climatic conditions. Groundwater levels dropped from their elevated, and some record setting highs, but still remain high at the end of January.

The groundwater level in well WI Cg 20 in Wicomico County dropped from the record setting high level of 3.12 feet below land surface in December to 3.98 feet below land surface, only 0.14 feet away from setting a record high for January. The 5-year hydrograph shows the water level as a dark line and normal range (between the 25th and 75th percentiles) as a white band.

Five-year hydrographs for these wells can be viewed at: http://md.water.usgs.gov/groundwater/web_wells/current/water_table/counties/

Reservoir Levels

Storage in the Baltimore reservoirs (Loch Raven, Liberty, and Prettyboy) was 100% of available storage with 75.85 billion gallons in available storage at the end of January 2010.

The Triadelphia and Duckett Reservoirs, which serve Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, were 100% of normal capacity with 10.86 billion gallons at the end of January 2010.

More Information

Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia

USGS Drought Watch

USGS Water Summary

Streamflow

Groundwater

Chesapeake Bay

National

USGS Streamflow and Groundwater levels

U.S. Drought Monitor from the National Drought Mitigation Center

Compiled by Wendy S. McPherson, Hydrologist

<< Jump to Archives

Contact

U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey

Wendy S. McPherson (wsmcpher@usgs.gov)
Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center
5522 Research Park Drive
Baltimore MD, 21228
Phone:443-498-5555
Fax:(443-498-5510