Indian Creek Guage?

[Wayne SW/MO]

Is the gauge at Tiff City effected by the Grand lake level?

[Bird Watcher]

Is the gauge at Tiff City effected by the Grand lake level?

No. Once you get past the tennis courts~mouth of Buffalo Creek area, you are out of the lakes influence at normal, say 744-746 levels

[ollie]

I don't think the gauge at Tiff City tells a whole lot about the upper Elk though. JMO

[Wayne SW/MO]

Now that I see where the gauge is I see where the lake wouldn't affect it. I was assuming it was in OK and probably around the mouth.

[Guest]

There's a drop down box on one of the USGS sites that shows the exact location of the gauge.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mo/nwis/nwismap/?site_no=07188653&agency_cd=USGS

you can zoom in and flip the basemap to imagery.

The big sugar gauge is way too far upriver, IMO

[Kelroy]

Yes Ollie, you're right in that the Tiff City gage (at Hwy 43 bridge, Cowskin access) doesn't tell the whole story of the upper end of the basin, as would a gage at Pineville. The gages at Pineville and Powell were installed to support a dedicated Elk River/Grand Lake drainage basin study several years back. We also did sampling and discharge measurements near Sugar Island, Caverna, and Indian Creek at Lanagan. After the study ended, other cooperators agreed to maintain funding for the operation of those gages. Otherwise, we would have pulled them out and redeployed the equipment at other installations. Gage site selection gets complicated by issues of access, right-of-way issues, landowner agreements, cooperator funding, etc, in addition to constraints imposed by the terrain and physical location itself.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Kelroy who determines the location of the gauges on the Niangua?

[Kelroy]

Different cooperators have different objectives, including monitoring discharge from specific tributaries, studying storage and/or backwater conditions, and so on. When a cooperator approaches us with a request for a gaging station, we sit down and figure out what/where we can put one that will meet their study objectives. Once we narrow down a general region, we conduct a thorough recon of possible sites, which are then evaluated on their accessibility (usually on or adjacent to a bridge for high-flow measurements) ownership of the property (state, fed, or private?) ability to broadcast data to one of our designated satellites (must be able to point that antenna right at that sucker!) physical hazards present, logistical problems with construction, channel morphology, constriction, and control features which may adversely influence the hydrology (inside/outside bend? straight run? bedrock vs gravel bottom, etc) So, there is actually quite a bit to consider when it comes to the final site selection. In a nutshell, we pick the best all-around spot that is mutually beneficial to us (since we have to get in there and maintain the gage, and make regular measurements to develop and maintain a stage-discharge rating) and that also serves to best meet the study objectives of the cooperator.

Apologies for the verbosity, but i hope i answered your question?