The U. S. Geological Survey has crews measuring the historic flooding in many parts of Georgia (USA), especially in north Georgia and the Atlanta region. The USGS has deployed field crews to help repair more than 20 streamgauges that were destroyed from the flooding. Crews are rushing to install temporary gages and make streamflow measurements to provide real-time flood information to emergency managers.
In Georgia, there are about 300 USGS-operated streamgauges that measure water levels, streamflow and rainfall. The information is used for numerous purposes, including public safety and flood forecasting by the National Weather Service. More than 50 streamgauge stations have measurements above flood stage.
"These are historic floods and we know that people's lives are at risk, so we burn the candle at both ends to try to keep our real-time gauges running," said Brian McCallum, USGS Supervisory Hydrologist, who oversees the streamgage operations and the field crews. "Because many of the gages have been destroyed, we are attempting to install as many temporary gauges as possible to ensure that real-time data is available to emergency managers."
In a TEDx WWF session held in Geneva, Switzerland, Stuart Orr talked about water which is a solvable crisis. Stuart Orr is freshwater programme director for WWF International.
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