Multiple Iowa River Streamgages Discontinued

Several US Geological Survey (USGS) river streamgages across the state of Iowa have been discontinued as of July 1, 2016 due to lack of funding.

Many of the gages that have been discontinued were installed in 2010 or 2012 in response to the need for more gaging along rivers in Iowa after large flood events. The gages provide essential data that is used for the purposes of flood warnings, recreation, historical data, water supply, water quality, etc.

Unfortunately the funding for these gages ceased which has forced the gages to be turned off. Losing this data is a loss for the NWS as we rely on the discharge data from the gages in order to model the rivers to provide river flood warnings.

If new partners can be identified, the gages will be put back in service. This has occurred at a few locations, where new funding partners have been identified allowing the gages to continue to provide data. The majority of the gages have been discontinued.

The impacted gages across the state are listed below :

Discontinued Gages

Volga River at Fayette

North Fork Maquoketa River below Bear Creek at Dyersville

Buffalo Creek South of Prairieburg

Wapsipinicon River at Oxford Mills

Cedar River at Osage

Shell Rock River near Rockford

Indian Creek at Marion

Skunk River at Merrimac

Little Sioux River at 300th St near Spencer

Keg Creek at Epperson Avenue near Glenwood

West Nishnabotna River near Riverton

East Nishnabotna River at Riverton

Locations where new funding partners have
allowed the gages to remain in operation.

Turkey River at Spillville

Cedar River at Cedar Buffs

Boone River near Goldfield

Perry Creek near Millnerville

For further information please contact:

Jessica Brooks
Service Hydrologist
National Weather Service, Quad Cities IA/IL
jessica.brooks@noaa.gov