Gaging stream capacity cuts could be devastating for the West
In January 1889, an intrepid group of hydrographers, led by Frederick H. Newell, installed the first U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgage on the Rio Grande near Embudo, N.M.
One-hundred and thirty-six years later, the USGS operates a network of over 11,800 streamgages in all 50 states; Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico and Guam. Recent budget cuts and operational restrictions threaten to undermine this essential work, leaving irrigators, landowners and water managers in the dark.
Importance of streamgage data
USGS’s network of gages provides real-time updates about streamflow, salinity, temperature and other water quality conditions to the public, allowing entities to adapt to changing conditions on-the-ground, even providing notifications for changing conditions based on an individual’s interests and thresholds.
The data provided by this system is used by water managers, emergency responders, fish and wildlife agencies and many others to guide their decision-making. It informs everything from reservoir operations and bridge design to recreational management and irrigation planning.
It is used to support other critical services such as the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s flood prediction programs.
Despite its tremendous value, the program runs on a modest budget of roughly $120 million per year.
Maintaining these monitoring stations is no small task. Each gage requires routine calibration to account for changing streambeds and shifting flow patterns, often in remote and challenging environments.
While much of the system has been upgraded with remote sensors, these still require regular on-the-ground maintenance.
During flood events, for example, technicians must often make emergency repairs and resurvey the streambed to maintain accurate readings. Without this upkeep, the reliability of stream data will degrade, directly impacting reservoir operations, water rights enforcement and emergency response.
Negative impacts
One USGS official told On Land the cuts Department of Government Efficiency is making will have large negative impacts on critical flood warning systems, water rights and reservoir operations.
Current orders prevent techs from overnight travel, “which essentially takes us out at the knees when it comes to field inspections, gage readings and maintenance tasks,” said the official.
The USGS employees On Land spoke to around the West, who all requested to remain anonymous, described blanket restrictions on agency travel, personnel cuts and seasonal employee hiring freezes as potentially disastrous for the system’s operation, and thus, for public safety and water management.
Officials in multiple Western states reported many streamgages they are responsible for are located far from urban centers, requiring field technicians to travel long distances. Without the ability to stay overnight, response times will lag, critical repairs may go unmade and entire regions could lose access to timely and accurate streamflow data with spring runoffs right around the corner.
Compounding these challenges, the General Services Administration is proposing the termination of leases for several USGS offices, including those in Boulder and Golden, Colo.; Bozeman, Mont.; Klamath Falls and Corvallis, Ore.; Moab, Utah; Spokane, Wash. and Cheyenne.
While it remains unclear, the impacts to employees working from these offices who are also under return-to-work orders, closing regional offices will impact the agency’s ability to perform its duties and may also reduce lab and equipment space essential for monitoring efforts.
Many agency employees are worried these closures will further degrade their ability to conduct fieldwork, house sensitive equipment and maintain vital research operations.
Maintaining, repairing, and calibrating these continuous monitoring stations isn’t costly work, but it is skilled and sometimes dangerous. Most USGS gage techs are experienced professionals with detailed knowledge about the intricate and complex gaging systems providing indispensable data to all water users.
USGS officials stressed maintaining these systems in remote areas with adverse weather conditions can be extremely dangerous. They repeatedly raised concerns that cutting skilled and experienced field staff would increase the risk for those who remain and compromise their ability to keep the system running accurately.
“Water monitoring is performed based on nonpartisan standards put in place by the USGS which have helped produce one of the world’s most complete hydrological records,” said Western Landowners Alliance (WLA) Western Water Director Morgan Wagoner. “At a time when water resources in the West are more strained than ever due to drought, climate change and increasing demand, reducing our ability to measure and monitor those resources is a dangerous gamble.”
If these cuts proceed unchecked, it would leave communities without the data they need to adapt and respond to water challenges, from drought to flood. The impact will be felt across cities, agriculture, hydropower, recreation and conservation.
Matt Smith is the watershed manager for the Headwaters of Colorado Initiative at WLA and can be reached by visiting westernlandowners.org. This article was originally published by WLA on March 7.
