Cost-effectiveness of the US Geological Survey stream-gaging program in central Florida

Abstract

This report documents the results of a study of the cost-effectiveness of the stream-gaging program in central Florida. Data uses and funding sources were identified for the 94 continuous-record gaging stations currently being operated in central Florida with a budget of $462,000. The average standard error in estimating instantaneous discharge for the present operation is 27.8 percent. Given a budget of $550,000 the average standard error could be reduced to 17.8 percent. However, this would require that one-third of the stations be visited at a frequency greater than monthly, with the remainder being visited less frequently. The logistics required for assigning personnel and vehicles to the field at this frequency would prohibit this approach from actually being used. By limiting the maximum number of visits to 12 per year, a budget of $550,000 would reduce the average standard error to 20.2 percent. No stations were identified as unnecessary in the present network and no stations could be replaced by data simulation using alternative methods (flow routing or regression analysis). In performing the analysis, it was found that one presently operating site in the Withlacoochee River basin should be replaced with dam-monitoring equipment, and that telecommunication equipment should be placed at remote sites in the Kissimmee River basin for the purpose of determining operating status of the recorder. This report is organized into five sections; the first being an introduction to the stream-gaging activities in Florida and the present program in central Florida. The middle three sections each contain discussions of an individual step of the analysis. Because of the sequential nature of the steps