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Missouri Agency to Fund Stream Gauges That Monitor Flooding

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has pledged to fund nearly 50 stream gauges used to monitor potential flooding along rivers.

The Springfield News-Leader reports the Missouri Water Science Center in Rolla manages more than 270 real-time gauges, but 49 of them were scheduled for deactivation in July due to unspecified threats to funding. Gauges cost $14,600 annually to operate.

The data provided by the gauges are used for a variety of purposes, and the U.S. Geological Survey partners with agencies such as the Natural Resources Department to fund and operate the gauges.

The National Weather Service uses the data from the water-monitoring devices to predict floods, such as those that recently ravaged southern Missouri.