After the drought of last year, many Delawareans were worried that the State’s weather was permanently changing, and conditions would be consistently drier.

But did all that snowmelt and rain actually change the conditions in the aquifers and in the streams?  According to the US Geological Survey, the nation’s principle source of data for river depth and flow, February had double the amount of normal monthly precipitation.  This caused stream levels in Delaware to be exceptionally high and increased the potential for major flooding.  A previous example of this was in 1996, when the region received warmer temperatures and heavy rain after a monstrous snow storm, and there was nowhere for the rain to go.  This year, however, temperature remained cool and almost all the precipitation was in the form of snow.

Total flow into the Chesapeake Bay averaged about 60.9 billion gallons per day (bgd) which is about 11% below average.  The Nanticoke River monitoring station, located near Bridgeville, has been monitoring the streamflow since 1943.  One of its lowest flows ever, and the lowest in five years, was October of 2002, during the drought.   In contrast, February 28, 2003 was in the top 90% of records.   With all the snow melt and spring precipitation, more rain will leach nutrients and topsoil from the land and the runoff will flood streams and creeks.  Increased streamflow will bring larger amounts of nutrients and sediment into the Bay.  These higher than normal nutrient levels will feed algal blooms, which will use up much of the dissolved oxygen in the water, leaving little for other organisms.  Fish kills are a common consequence.  Algal blooms and increased sediment can also cause a decrease in the light needed by the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), which provide habitat and food.

Before draining into creeks and streams, some of the water is absorbed into the ground and recharged into the aquifer.  Because of the warm air gradually thawing the snow and the ground, aquifer recharge has been high this year.  The USGS has monitored 2 wells in Kent County, one near Adamsville and one near Williamsville, since 1958.  The Adamsville Well was at the top 90th percentile of all recorded monthly averages in February and had dropped to the 75-89th percentile by the end of March.  Last March, the water table was within 1 foot of the lowest record ever.   But in one year, the level had increased a total of nine feet to only 6 feet below the surface of the land.  The Williamsville Well has a new record high water table for the month in February, at 19 inches within land surface.  August of 2002 had the lowest level in five years; the water table was 10 feet below the land surface.   This well has also experienced a change of nine feet in the last year.

The USGS attributes the high aquifer recharge rate to “…warm air, thawing of ground and high rainfall.”  Hopefully, this aquifer recharge will continue through the next few months as Spring rains arrive in Delaware.