Record Floods on USA Rivers

In the final days of 2015, record floods threatened communities throughout the Mississippi River Basin.

In late December, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) field crews recorded 18 preliminary record-high flood measurements along the Meramac River. Additional historic peaks were expected throughout the southern part of the state.

The National Weather Service reported that major flooding was occurring or forecast on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and tributaries in Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky, and the Arkansas River & tributaries in Arkansas.

In response to dangerous flooding, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) issued river closures on the Upper Mississippi River between mile markers 184 and 179 and the Illinois River between mile markers 0 to 50. In other areas, high water safety advisories and high water towing restrictions were in effect.

Floodwaters were predicted to downstream, with significant river flooding expected for the lower Mississippi into mid-January.

Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Water Quality

Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River beach water quality met government standards 76.5% of the time in 2015, according to a recent report from Swim Guide (www.theswimguide.org). By comparison, water quality standards were met 72.5% of the 2014 season.

Swim Guide compared monitoring results for 1,496 beaches around the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River and calculated the number of days beaches in each watershed passed water quality tests, failed water quality tests, or had no data. The findings published in the second annual Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Beach Report.

Swim Guide is a beach information service created by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper in Toronto. The resource offers water quality alerts, beach descriptions, photos, and directions for over 7,000 beaches in Canada, the U.S.A., as well as Baja Mexico, and New Zealand.

For more information, visit www.theswimguide.org.

BC Canada Parks and Protected Areas

The Province of British Columbia (BC) is home to more than 1000 national parks, provincial parks, recreation areas, conservancies, ecological reserves, and other protected areas.

BC parks and protected areas facts:

 - British Columbia has one of the largest protected areas systems in North America

 - British Columbia has the highest percentage of its land base dedicated to protected areas of all provincial Canadian jurisdictions.

 - Since 2004, the area of parks, conservancies, ecological reserves, and protected areas has increased by more than 3.3 million hectares.

- British Columbia is home to some of Canada's most popular national parks including Glacier National Park, Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site, Kootenay National Park, Mount Revelstoke National Park, Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, and Yoho National Park

Canada to Support Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS)

The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, recently announced Canada’s contribution of $10 million to support Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) in vulnerable communities.

Canada’s contribution will be delivered through the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to improve Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems in developing countries, particularly the small island developing states and least developed countries.

These systems have been proven to reduce loss of life and economic hardship caused by meteorological hazards such as tropical cyclones, floods, severe storms, forest fires, and heat waves.

The announcement is part of Canada’s historic pledge of $2.65 billion over the next five years to support developing countries’ transition to low carbon economies and adapt to the changing climate.

source: Canada Ministry of Environment and Climate Change