WHO PAYS FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF GAGING-STATIONS?

Money for the maintenance of individual stream gages comes from a number of sources that include federal, state, and local agencies. Federal funding for USGS hydrologic data-collection activities usually comes from one of the primary sources listed below:

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 USGS Federal-State Cooperative Program-- supplies funds made available by Congress to the USGS for matching state or local agency offerings.
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 Other federal agencies--transfer of funds to meet their water-resources-data needs.
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 Congress-- appropriated funds designated specifically for use by the USGS for collection of streamflow and water-quality data.

Currently, the USGS partners with more than 800 federal, state, and local agencies through the Federal-State Cooperative Program. Partners in this program usually fund individual stations in order to obtain data that meets an agency-specific project or regulatory need. The Federal-State Cooperative Program provides the majority of funding for operation of stream-gaging stations, about two-thirds of the funding in 1998 (see chart below).

Funding 1998.

Stream gages are costly to maintain and many gages with valuable long periods of record have been lost due to discontinued funding. Gages need to be inspected and repaired as necessary. Rating curves must also be kept up-to-date with flow measurements. As new technology related to water-level sensors and data recorders emerges, funding will also be needed to replace outdated equipment. Funding will be an extremely crucial issue for the future of the stream-gaging network.

Currently, four gaging stations within the Delaware River Basin are slated to lose federal funding under the proposed FY 03 budget. Two of these gages are located along the flood-prone Neshaminy and Little Neshaminy creeks. For more information, please visit the National Streamflow Information Program (NSIP) on the USGS web site.

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