Akers And Jack's Fork River Gages Discontinued

[hank franklin]

I was looking this morning for the Akers gage and sure enough it has been discontinued. In looking further also the Jack Fork's at Mountain View gage and Big River above Bonne Terre. These are the only three gages discontinued statewide according to the USGS main page: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mo/nwis/current/?type=flow#Data-collection_discontinued

Yes I will register my displeasure with USGS and any others. This is not good. Here is what I plan to tell them.

The Akers and JF gages in particular are very important to floaters, anglers and any others who use the river. The JF Mountain View gage lets people know if the upper river is floatable. As a float-fisher I know that that 150 cfs on this gage is ideal, and anything lower than 100 cfs for a loaded canoe in particular is pushing it. With this data point gone there will be no reliable source of info for floating levels on the upper JF. Yes you can call an outfitter but their response will be anecdotal at best. The Alley Spring gage will give an indication but is some 30+ miles downstream and can't be relied on for upper river conditions. River safety is affected; at higher flows floating the upper river can be quite hazardous and the info again will simply not be there in any reliable way. This is a national park visited by thousands of people year-round. Accurate river info is critical. Please restore the Mtn View gage!

The Akers gage on the Current is also very important. It is incredible to me that with this gage gone there is no gage between Montauk and Doniphan on the Current River! National park, thousands and thousands of users, and no accurate river readings on the most heavily floated stretches? It really makes no sense. The Akers gage gives a good indication of river conditions and floating levels for the Upper Current; the upstream Montauk gage won't be near as reliable as the watershed feeding that gage is limited. If anything we need more gages on the Current, not less.

I understand budgets are being cut and need to be cut, but I cant believe these instruments cost much to maintain. I would appreciate an explanation of those costs and what is saved by eliminating these gages. I would also appreciate an explanation for why these gages in particular were eliminated.

Thank you.

HANK

[Guest]

Ridiculous. I will also be contacting usgs.

[Kelroy]

An important point to consider; the USGS Water Resources is unique among Federal agencies in that it is only partially funded by the Fed govt, and must therefore rely on funding from its cooperators- i.e. the various entities that fund the installation and operation of river gages. These cooperators are usually state or other federal agencies who must, in turn, secure their operational funding from higher up the food chain as well. Every year USGS and the Department of the Interior send a delegation of top officials to Washington to justify and explain their needs for funding, and to explain the value and importance of the services they provide to the public. And every year, they get a fraction of what they ask for. Funding has been flat or reduced for the last four years in a row.

The National Park Service (Dept of Agriculture) has taken some hits too. The gages at Akers and on Hwy 17 are both funded by NPS. They are the ones who must decide where to make cuts in their spending, to balance their shrinking budget. USGS does not decide when or where to cut funding for their cooperators' gages, that decision comes directly from the cooperator. While you are of course welcome to respectfully express your displeasure to USGS for these gage closures, please do so with the knowledge that it was the decision of the NPS, and not USGS, that has lead to their discontiunance, and they alone can provide justification for their choice of those two sites.

As for the gage on Big River, it was funded by the EPA. It was used in conjunction with gages at Byrnesville, Irondale, and Richwoods, as part of a two-year basin-specific study of runoff and sediment transport. On the Bonne Terre gage website, if you select the 'summary of all available data' option, you will see that no data exist for this site before 2011. The gage was constructed and operated (via EPA funding) strictly to support their research project, and since they have collected the data they needed, it is no longer a mission-critical priority for them to keep it in service.

I hope this adds a bit of clarity. The USGS takes great pride in their gaging stations and the valuable services the network provides to the public. The USGS doesn't like to see their work 'go away' either.

[Kelroy]

There is another post about it on the Jack's Fork forum, which you may find interesting.

And just for entertainment, here is a channel 5 news blurb on river gages. It's interesting to note that they interviewed a National Weather Service hydrologist, and he does a fairly good job showing off some USGS equipment, but USGS was never contacted for this story or for permission for him to piddle around inside USGS-owned structures. In fact, USGS isn't even mentioned. No respect, I tell ya.

http://www.ksdk.com/story/local/2013/06/20/3122633/

[Al Agnew]

While I agree that these gauges on the Current and Jacks Fork are important, I would like to point out that there is a gauge at Van Buren.

As for the Big River gauge, since it was only in use for a couple of years, it won't be missed too much. It did not have the history that would make it as useful as most gauges, and you can usually get the info you need from the Irondale gauge for that section of river. Don't get me wrong, I liked having the Bonne Terre gauge, though.

The Mountain View and Akers gauges, however, are extremely useful. Thanks, Kelroy, for giving us the heads up on who is responsible for funding them (or not funding them).

[hank franklin]

Thanks Kelroy for the info. I will make my comments to the USGS and see where it goes from there.

[Kelroy]

Sure thing, guys. Each gage webpage usually lists the cooperators up at the top, such as EPA, NWS, USACOE, NPS, etc. Some gages have multiple cooperators as well.

You're right Al, the Bonne Terre gage was a bit redundant, but the EPA wanted it there for their two-year study. It doesn't have the type of historical record as the others, so its loss won't have too much impact. Still, i hate to see any of them go away. The NPS decision to de-fund Akers and upper Jack's Fork still has me scratching my head. It almost seems as if they want to stir up some public outcry, to help drive home the importance of these gages and the critical need for adequate funding. But, i need to stress, that is just my opinion and has no basis in fact.

[ColdWaterFshr]

The NPS decision to de-fund Akers and upper Jack's Fork still has me scratching my head. It almost seems as if they want to stir up some public outcry, to help drive home the importance of these gages and the critical need for adequate funding. But, i need to stress, that is just my opinion and has no basis in fact.

Seems that way to me too. Out of all the gauges to choose from . . . seems like they chose 2 of the most high profile, most referenced, and most needed gauges on 2 of the most popular rivers.

[J&T Fisher]

the gauges are still working on this site.

http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=lsx

[Wayne SW/MO]

While I don't agree with the action, don't think they really take recreation in to account that much. Most of the gauges are to predict flooding downstream in important areas. They apparently don't believe the Jacks Fork contribution is that important.