............................... GEORGIA - Rivers are rising into moderate to major flood levels in South Georgia. Rivers all across south Georgia are rising slowly into "moderate" flood conditions from the Ogeechee River in the east by the City of Eden to the Ochlockonee River in the southwest region of the State. Major flooding is forecast for the Altamaha River at Everett City, Georgia (see: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/serfc/). USGS crews have been making flood measurements as needed over the past several days in support of the NWS flood forecast needs, and will continue to respond to this flood threat as allowed under the current DOI sequestration limitations.......... NEBRASKA - The location of the most severe parts of this drought continue to shift north, from Texas in early 2011, up through Oklahoma later that year, and on up through Kansas in the summer of 2012. The state with the worst drought conditions now is Nebraska (according to the U.S. Drought Monitor), with Kansas and the other surrounding states still severely impacted. The U.S. Drought Monitor has classified 77% of Nebraska in the Exceptional drought category, while 96% of the state remained in at least the Extreme drought category. Despite intermittent winter precipitation, conditions have remained unchanged over the past 3 months, with 0.5 to 2.0 inches of snow moisture across the state during that period. The National Drought Mitigation Center says 2012 was the both the driest and warmest year out of 118 years of record. On January 1, 2013, Nebraska Department of Natural Resources officials declared a Compact Call Year for the Republican River Basin. USGS records for Harlan County Reservoir, the largest reservoir on the Republican River in Nebraska, show that the reservoir has not recovered at all since the 2012 irrigation season and is currently only about 3 feet above the sediment pool. http://bit.ly/UYMLOA None in the last month, but streamflows are currently affected by ice and accurate streamflow data is unavailable. The USGS Groundwater Watch shows that over 1,250 groundwater wells are at or less than the 24th percentile (Below Normal or Much Below Normal). 61 percent of ranked wells in the Nebraska Continuous Groundwater-Level Network are less than the 24th percentile (Below Normal or Much Below Normal) and over half of those are less than the 10th percentile. No additional low-flow discharge measurements or low-end rating extensions were required in the past month. USGS crews have been repairing frozen pressure lines throughout the winter at several streamgages due to the low river conditions. Nebraska has several thousand annual and hundreds of semi-annual wells in the groundwater level network, but this means that groundwater data related to the drought may be nearly a year old. Nebraska WSC created the Nebraska Continuous Groundwater Level Network which expands on the Groundwater Watch Real-Time Groundwater-Level Network. The new network includes continuous recorders which lack real-time capability, but reduce the effective time to last observation to a few months at most. http://http://groundwaterwatch.usgs.gov/NCG/StateMaps/NCG.html .......... NORTH CAROLINA 01-31-13- USGS Crews from the North Carolina Water Science Center respond to flooding in portions of western North Carolina (January 31, 2013) USGS Crews from the North Carolina Water Science Center respond to flooding in portions of western North Carolina (January 31, 2013). Once again this month, widespread precipitation amounts of more than 2 inches have fallen in the last two days across a large part of western North Carolina. One USGS raingage in Macon County North Carolina reported a total for the 2-day period from January 29 through 30 of 5.66 inches. (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nc/nwis/uv/?site_no=350557083325845). USGS crews continue to make discharge measurements in response to this event. Three crews (a total of 5 staff members) from the Asheville Field Office of the North Carolina Water Science Center are out today making discharge measurements and ensuring that streamgages are functioning properly. The French Broad River at Blantyre remains above the National Weather Service flood stage of 16.0 feet today and the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center has forecast it to crest near 17.5 feet early Friday morning, at that location........... ALABAMA 02-11-13 - Minor to moderate flooding in central Alabama. Rainfall totals of greater than four inches have been reported for the last 24 hours for parts of central Alabama. As a result, several streams are experiencing minor to moderate flooding. The Alabama WSC has three two-person crews in the field today (Feb. 11) making discharge measurements at selected sites primarily in south-central Alabama. Two to four inches of additional rainfall are expected over the next 48 hours in the southern half of the state............. KANSAS - Kansas has seen no significant change in drought intensity over the past month. The location of the most severe parts of this drought continue to shift north, from Texas in early 2011, up through Oklahoma later that year, and on up through Kansas in the summer of 2012. The state with the worst drought conditions now is Nebraska (according to the U.S. Drought Monitor), with Kansas and the other surrounding states still severely impacted. All 105 counties in Kansas have been declared a Drought Emergency by the Governor of Kansas, and Federal Drought Disaster area, since August 2012. No change in this for the last 6 months. As of February 4, 212 public water suppliers in Kansas were mandating some level of water conservation to their customers, and 8 had in place emergency mandatory restrictions. These numbers have been gradually increasing over the last few months. The U.S. Drought Monitor has classified 36% of Kansas in the Exceptional drought category, while 80% of the state remained in at least the Extreme drought category. The conditions reported by this index have improved (very) slightly since last month due precipitation that fell in parts of the state. According to National Weather Service average precipitation statewide in January was basically right at “normal”, with the west generally receiving less than normal, and the east receiving a little more than normal. The WaterWatch “Average Streamflow Index”, which rates state-wide streamflow from 1 (dry) to 7 (wet) based on 95 streamflow sites across Kansas continued the long trend downward from previous months until the last 3 days of January, when it increased slightly. It has remained between 2 and 3 for several months. None in the last month, but several federal reservoirs in the state are nearing record low levels. Record low reservoir elevations are expected to be reached within 60 days at some Federal reservoirs if little or no precipitation is received. No additional low-flow measurements, extension of pressure lines, or low-end rating extensions were required in the past month. Streamflow conditions are extremely low, but have recovered slightly as temperatures have cooled and precipitation was closer to normal. A “pre-proposal” to describe the effects of the current U.S. drought on surface water, groundwater and water quality has been written.......... INDIANA - Moderate flooding conditions are currently occurring across central and southern Indiana. Over the weekend, 3-5" of rain fell across the White River and Wabash River watersheds. Gages along the White River are measuring moderate to major flood stages at this time. Gages along the Wabash River are expected to stay within moderate flood conditions according to the NWS forecasts. Two crews (3 people total) measured discharge at 5 sites yesterday. There are 5 crews (8 people total) measuring 10 smaller sites today. The same number of crews are expected to measure the bigger rivers later this week when they are forcast to crest. All gages in the affected area are operating correctly with the exception of 03365500 East Fork White River at Seymour which may have a tape that has jumped the encoder wheel. A repair crew is scheduled to visit the site Tuesday............ MICHIGAN 01-31-13 - Minor flooding is occurring in some parts of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Four river basins with some flooded areas are the White, Muskegon, Grand, and Chippewa. The Pere Marquette River is currently expected to crest just below flood stage on February 2. Muskegon River flooding is largely the result of a susbstantial ice jam in the upper basin causing flooding both upstream and downstream of the jam. On Tuesday and Wednesday, warm temperatures and rainfall ranging from 1 to 2 inches resulted in significant runoff, particular in areas with greatest snowpack. Temperatures have cooled nearly 40 degrees in some areas since Tuesday and lake effect snow is falling along, and inland of, the Lake Michigan coast currently. Although flooding is minor, field staff dispatched from Lansing and Grayling Field Offices was 7 crews with 10 total employees yesterday; and 2 two-man crews are continuing to make selected discharge measurements today. Several crews have also collected water-quality samples at Great Lakes Restoration Initiative sites during this event.............