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The combined flow of the nation's three largest rivers—the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence and the Columbia—was up nearly 8% above median in 1989, reports the U.S. Geological Survey. Flow averaged a normal‐range 1.08 trillion gallons per day. Hydrologists at the USGS note the sharp contrast to 1988, when combined flow of the three rivers averaged 18% below median and was in the below‐normal range. For smaller streams in the U.S., flow conditions were more varied. Of 174 index stream‐gaging stations, 40 reported flows averaging in the above‐normal range, 79 had flows averaging in the normal range and 55 stations registered averages in the below‐normal range. |
