Value of USGS streamgaging program

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=185 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="David Ford Consulting Engineers"><U><B><IMG SRC="0d058960.png" border=0 width="88" height="150" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> <div>    <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" > </FONT></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="4" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="156" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#FFFFFF" BORDERCOLORDARK="#FFFFFF" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 27 WIDTH="146"><div> David Ford Consulting Engineers, Inc.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 27 ><NOBR><div> 2015 J Street, Suite 200</div> <div> Sacramento, CA 95811</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 27 WIDTH="146"><div> tel: 916.447.8779</div> <div> fax: 916.447.8780</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 27 WIDTH="146"><div> <A HREF="mailto:support@ford-consulting.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:support@ford-consulting.com"><U>support@ford-consulting.com</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div>    </div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="David Ford Consulting Engineers"><U>Home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id461.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About us"><U>About us</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="news.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="News"><U>News</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="hydrologic_engineering.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hydrologic engineering"><U>Hydrologic engineering</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="water_resource_planning.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Water resource planning"><U>Water resource planning</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="flood_economic_and_risk_analyses.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Flood economic and risk analyses"><U>Flood economic/risk analyses</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="flood_warning.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Flood warning"><U>Flood warning</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="decision_support_system_development.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Decision support system development"><U>Decision support systems</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=40 BGCOLOR="#3366CC" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="14400980ezthpx.png"> <div> <B>Value of USGS streamgaging program</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=440 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="06c00962egerdp.png"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="544" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 BGCOLOR=#CC0000 HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="534"><div> <B>Situation</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 HEIGHT= 684 WIDTH="534"><div> The US Geological Survey (USGS) operates and maintains a nationwide streamgaging network of about 7,400 gages at a cost of over $100 million per year. Data from the network are used by a variety of public and private users for (1) operational purposes, including real-time flood forecasting, reservoir and water supply operations, and other decision making to meet obligations that arise under local, national, and international law; (2) predictive purposes, such as determining optimal dimensions of flood defense facilities or locating new intakes for water supply facilities; (3) monitoring trends and changes in environmental conditions; and (4) research, development, and education.</div> <div> The USGS developed the National Streamflow Information Program (NSIP) for future gaging activities. The NSIP identifies plans for enhancing the network and estimates resources needed. The plan has been reviewed and found technically adequate, but the economic feasibility of the proposals has not been addressed. In other words, the NSIP documentation does not present tangible and intangible benefits to the nation if the plan is implemented. </div> <div> If well-informed decisions are to be made about the NSIP, an evaluation of its benefits, direct and indirect, tangible and intangible, is required.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="21df87a0.jpg" border=0 width="504" height="378" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 BGCOLOR=#339933 HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="534"><div> <B>Action</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 HEIGHT= 285 WIDTH="534"><div> Our task in this project was to address the lack of information about the value of the NSIP. Specifically, the USGS asked the National Hydrologic Warning Council (NHWC), a not-for-profit organization of specialists in flood data collection, flood recognition, and flood warning to assign benefits to the NSIP. NHWC, in turn, asked us to do the necessary research to develop defendable, realistic benefit estimates and to present those findings in a publicly-accessible format.</div> <div> This project was completed in 2 phases. In the first phase, we identified and described users of and uses of USGS network data. In the second phase, we focused on evaluating the benefits of the streamgaging network in relation to flood management. </div> <div> These reports are available on-line from NHWC. </div> <div> <A HREF="http://nhwc.udfcd.org/PDF/USGS/nhwc_nsip_phaseA.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://nhwc.udfcd.org/PDF/USGS/nhwc_nsip"><U>Benefits of USGS Streamgaging Program--Users and Uses of USGS Streamflow Data</U></A>, March 7, 2006 </div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.udfcd.org/temp/Flood_Mngmt_Benefits.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.udfcd.org/temp/Flood_Mngmt_Be"><U>Flood Management Benefits of USGS Streamgaging Program</U></A>, October 19, 2006</div> <div>  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>