Groundwater Depletions in 40 Aquifers Nationwide between 1900 and 2008 is Focus of May 2013 U.S. Geological Survey Report

In May 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced the results of a study of the drawing down of 40 groundwater aquifers nationwide.  According to the report’s abstract (summary), estimated groundwater depletion in the United States during 1900–2008 was approximately 1,000 cubic kilometers (km³), and the rate increased after about 1950, with maximum rates occurring between 2000–2008 when the average annual depletion rate was almost 25 km³, compared to 9.2 km³ per year averaged over the 1900–2008 period.  (A cubic kilometer equals about 811,000 acre-feet, and one acre-foot equals about 325,000 gallons.)  The report (Table 2, p. 7) indicates that the depletion rate also increased in Virginia’s part of the Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer; the depletion rate there was 0.025 km³ per year from 1900 to 2000, but 0.24 km³ per year from 2001 to 2008.  The report is Groundwater Depletion in the United States (1900-2008), by L.F. Konikow, USGS Scientific Investigations Reprot 2013-5079, 63 pages; available online (only) at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2013/5079.  The map below, Figure 2 from the report, shows the aquifers studied and the depletion amounts in each area.  Additional source: Deficit in Nation’s Aquifers Accelerating, USGS News Release 5/20/13.

Tornado Preparedness in Virginia

After the news of the devastating Moore, Oklahoma, tornado on May 20, 2013, it’s a good time to re-post information on tornado preparedness.  The information below was previously posted on February 13, 2013.

Virginia has had tornadoes in all regions of the state and in every month of the year, so any time is a good time to  get tornado ready!  (For a map of tornado locations, dates, and intensities in Virginia since 1951, please see The Tornado History Project Web site, at http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado/Virginia/map.)

Tuesday, March 12, 2013, was proclaimed by Gov. Robert McDonnell as Tornado Preparedness Day in Virginia.  At 9:45 a.m. on that day, a statewide tornado drill allowed schools, government agencies, businesses, and families to practice tornado-emergency plans.  Information on tornadoes, tornado preparedness, and the 2013 statewide tornado drill is available from the  Virginia Department of Emergency Management’s (VDEM) Web page for tornadoes at http://www.vaemergency.gov/readyvirginia/stayinformed/tornadoes.  Other information on preparing for natural disasters and other potential emergencies is available at VDEM’s “Ready Virginia” Web page at http://www.vaemergency.gov/readyvirginia; that page includes a link to find the emergency manager for one’s particular locality.  Contact VDEM at (804) 897-6500 or pio@vdem.virginia.gov.

Here are tornado-preparedness and response steps recommended by the VDEM’s  Web site (as of 2/13/13):

Before

• Get a NOAA Weather Radio with warning alarm tone and battery backup to get information directly from the National Weather Service.   This is the quickest way to learn that a tornado is heading your way.  Many models are available.
• Know what tornado watch and tornado warning mean.
• Determine in advance where you will take cover in case of a tornado warning.  Keep this safe location uncluttered.
• Storm cellars or basements provide the best protection.
• A vehicle, trailer or mobile home does not provide good protection.  Plan to go quickly to a building with a strong foundation, if possible.
• Get a kit of emergency supplies.  Store it in your shelter location.
• Practice tornado drills at least once a year.

During

• When a tornado watch is issued, stay tuned to local radio, TV and NOAA weather radio for further information and possible warnings.  Be prepared to take cover.
• When a tornado warning is issued, take cover in your safe location immediately or on the lowest level of the nearest substantial building.  Protect your body from flying debris with a heavy blanket, pillows, sofa cushions or mattress.
• If underground shelter is not available, go into a windowless interior room, closet or hallway on the lowest floor possible.
• Stay away from windows, doors and outside walls.  Go to the center of the room.  Stay away from corners because they attract debris.
• If you are in a high-rise building, you may not have enough time to go to the lowest floor.  Pick a place in a hallway in the center of the building.
• If you can’t get to your safe location or the lowest level of a substantial building, here are tips for the following locations:
  Open buildings (shopping mall, gym or civic center):  Try to get into a restroom or interior hallway.  If there is no time, get up against something that will support or deflect falling debris.  Protect your head by covering it with your arms.
  Cars and trucks: Get out of your vehicle and try to find shelter inside a sturdy building.  A culvert or ditch can provide shelter if a substantial building is not nearby.  Lie down flat and cover your head with your hands.  Do not get under an overpass or bridge.  You are safer in a low, flat location.
  Outdoors.  Try to find shelter immediately in the nearest substantial building.  If no buildings are close, lie down flat in a ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands.
  Mobile homes.  Do not stay in mobile homes.  Leave immediately and seek shelter inside a nearby sturdy building, or lie down in a ditch away from your home, covering your head with your hands.  Mobile homes are extremely unsafe during tornadoes.

After

• Stay out of damaged buildings and stay clear of downed power lines
• Help injured or trapped people.  Check on those who might need special assistance, such the elderly, children and people with disabilities.
• Stay in your safe location until the danger has passed.

Severe Storm Reports in Great Plains and Midwest May 18-20, 2013, from National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center

The devastating May 20, 2013, tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, came amidst three consecutive days of a high number of severe-weather reports in the Great Plains and Midwest, as well as

For the National Weather Service/Storm Prediction Center’s preliminary (not yet verified) reports of tornadoes, hail, and high winds for May 18-20, 2013, go to these links:
May 18: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/130518_rpts.html;
May 19: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/130519_rpts.html;
May 20: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/130520_rpts.html.

At the Center’s site, one can access the archive of maps and report lists for previous days going back several years.

The Center’s maps of reports for May 18, 19, and 20 are shown below.

On Virginia Water Radio for the Week of 5-20-13: Fiddlng the Forks of the Big Sandy River

This week, Virginia Water Radio features an old-time fiddle tune named for three streams that start water on its way from Appalachia to the Gulf of Mexico.  Click here to have a listen! (2 min/37 sec)

Virginia Water Radio, online at http://www.virginiawaterradio.org, is the Virginia Water Resources Research Center’s weekly podcast using sounds and music to focus on issues, events, people, and creatures connected to Virginia’s waters.

Virginia Water Resources Research Center Research in Coalfield Streams Highlighted in May 2013 Environmental Monitor Article

For several years, Virginia Water Resources Research Center Director Stephen Schoenholtz, Research Scientist Anthony Timpano, and several Virginia Tech graduate students have been studying the potential impact of total dissolved solids (TDS) on macroinvertebrates living in streams in Virginia’s coalfield area.  (Macroinvertebrates are animals that can be seen withou a microscope—“macro-“—and which do not have a backbone—“invertebrate.”  The large and varied group includes many insects, but also crustaceans, such as crayfish; mollusks, such as snails; worms; and other creatures.)  The research is important to federal and state regulation of coal-mining activities that affect water resources.  An overview of the work was published on May 17, 2013, by Environmental Monitor, a journal from Fondriest Environmental, Inc., of Fairborn, Ohio.  The article is available online at http://www.fondriest.com/news/mining-stream-insects-dissolved-solids.htm, or contact Fondriest Environmental at (888) 426-2151.

Virginia Water-related Government Meetings, May 20-June 3, 2013

For more information, click on the meeting dates. Click here for the Commonwealth Calendar listing of all government meetings open to the public, here for the  Virginia Regulatory Town Hall listing of all government meetings of a regulatory nature, and here for Virginia General Assembly legislative committee and commission meetings.

 For other, non-governmental, events, please see the Water Central News Grouper post, Quick Guide to Virginia Water-related Events.

REGULAR MEETINGS OF STATEWIDE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.

5/21/13, 9 a.m.: Gas and Oil Board.  At the Russell County Office Building, 139 Highland Drive in Lebanon.

5/21/13, 10 a.m.: Board for Waterworks and Wastewater Works Operators and Onsite Sewage System Professionals (informal fact-finding conference on a disciplinary matter).  At the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, 9960 Mayland Drive in Richmond.

5/21/13, 10 a.m.: Board of Game and Inland Fisheries’ Education, Planning, and Outreach Committee.  At 4000 West Broad Street in Richmond.  On 5/21/13 at 1 p.m., at the same location, the full Board will hold a workshop to discuss legislative ideas.

5/23/13, 9 a.m.: Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services.  At the Virginia Capitol Building, Senate Room 3, 1000 Bank Street in Richmond.  Among other topics, the Board will be considering for final approval the following regulations: 2 VAC 5-321, Regulation of the Harvest of Ginseng; and an amendment to 2 VAC 5-685, Regulations Governing Pesticide Applicator Certification.

5/23/13, 10 a.m.: Board for Waste Management Facility Operators.  At the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, 9960 Mayland Drive in Richmond

5/23/13, 10 a.m.: Offshore Wind Development Authority.  At the Virginia Housing Center, 4224 Cox Road in Glen Allen.

5/28/13, 9:30 a.m.: Marine Resources Commission.  At 2600 Washington Avenue in Newport News.

MEETINGS ABOUT TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOADS (or TMDLs, for impaired waters).
For more information about TMDLs in Virginia, click here for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality TMDL Web site.

5/22/13, 7 p.m., at Massies Mill Ruritan Hall, 5439 Patrick Henry Highway in Roseland, on the TMDL study of bacterial impairments in the Tye River and three tributaries (Hat Creek, Piney River, and Rucker Run) in Nelson and Amherst Counties.

MEETINGS ON OTHER SPECIFIC TOPICS (listed alphabetically)

Biosolids (Treated Sewage Sludge) Land-application Permit Requests
6/3/13, 5 p.m.: On the permit application by Nutri-Blend, Inc., to land-apply biosolids to about 4444 acres in Appomattox County.  At the Appomattox Community Center, 220 Community Lane in Appomattox.

Mined Land Reclamation
5/22/13, 9:30 a.m.: Abandoned Mine Land Advisory Committee.  At the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy office, 3405 Mountain Empire Road in Big Stone Gap (Wise County).

Stormwater
5/20/13, 10 a.m.: Department of Conservation and Recreation public hearing on the general permit for construction activities.  The relevant section in the Virginia Administrative Code is 4 VAC 50-60-1100 et seq., Part XIV.  At the Roanoke County Government Offices, 5204 Bernard Drive in Roanoke.

Wastewater Permits
5/21/13, 10 a.m.:  Nutrient Credit Certification Regulatory Advisory Panel.  At the Department of Environmental Quality Central Office, 629 E. Main Street in Richmond.  The 2012 Virginia General Assembly passed the Nutrient Trading Act (HB 176 and SB 77), which requires the Soil and Water Conservation Board to adopt regulations related to certification of nutrient credits from  non-point sources, including credits generated from agricultural and urban stormwater best management practices, incineration or management of manures, land use conversion, stream or wetlands restoration, shellfish aquaculture, algal harvesting, and other methods of nutrient control or removal.  More information about Virginia’s nutrient credit trading program is available online at http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/NutrientTrading.aspx.

If Spring 2012 Came Early in Your Area, You’re Not Alone

If you thought spring in Virginia came early in 2012, you’re right.  According to a study published in May 2013 by scientists working as part of the USA National Phenology Network (sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey, or USGS), many parts of the United States experienced above-normal temperatures in March 2012 that led to early leafing and flowering by plants.  (Phenology is the study of the timing of plant and animal life cycles, particularly in relation to weather and climate.)  According to a USGS news release on the study, this was “the earliest spring over the 48 U.S. states since 1900 when systematic weather data began to be available for the entire area.”  The study is “The False Spring of 2012, Earliest in North American Record,” by T. R. Ault et al., published in the May 14, 2013, issue of Eos Transactions of the American Geophysical Union (Vol. 94, Issue 20, pp. 181-182).  More information about phenology and the USA National Phenology Network is available online at https://www.usanpn.org/home.

Source: Spring 2012 Earliest on Record, U.S. Geological Survey News Release, 5/15/13