To see the impact that the drought is having on local creeks and rivers, let's take a look at some recent streamflow readings along two Delaware waterways.

First consider Brandywine Creek at Wilmington - the measuring station is in Rockford Park. The average flow rate this time of year is about 700 cubic feet per second - that's about as much water per second as would fill your typical four-foot-deep aboveground pool. Last Friday the flow rate was only 180 cubic feet per second, about 25% of average, a record low for the date. It's a similar story in Kent County along the St. Jones River in Dover, where the average flow rate this time of year is around 70 cubic feet per second. Last Friday the flow rate was only 10% of that average.

You can track streamflow information like this for yourself on the web, thanks to the U.S. Geological Survey. Go to water.usgs.gov/nwis, where NWIS stands for National Water Information Service.