Hydrometric Stations for Flood Protection

Water Resource Technicians make trips to the various locations in the watershed where these hydrometric stations are situated, at different times of the year, to measure different levels of flow. Measurements of velocity are made using a precision instrument called an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler or ADCP. The measured velocities are then used to calculate flow rate, which is then related to the depth of water in the stream. The rarest measurements to capture occur during high water periods, which may only occur for less than 14 days out of the year, though nearly always in the spring. This data, once processed, is used for flood forecasting, for statistical analyses or likelihood of flood flows, and to determine where the floodplain is located, determining where it is safer or less safe to build.