December streamflow

It was a wet December for most of the nation's streams, highlighted by a record high flow of the Mississippi River, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Flow of the Mississippi River at Vicksburg, Miss., averaged 765 billion gallons per day (bgd) during the month, the highest December flow in 58 years of record keeping. The previous record high for December was 741 bdg in 1982. The Mississippi, St. Lawrence, and Columbia rivers, which drain more than half of the conterminous United States, serve as a general indicator of the status of the nation's surface water resources. The combined flow of these “Big Three” rivers for December was 987 bgd, which was 86% more than the long‐term December average.