Flood warning gauges come at a high price

While little can be done to halt the impact of Mother Nature, technology can offer a heads up for such events.

USGS meets with King, Joy

Representatives of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) met last week with State Rep. Bryan King and Shawna Miller of the Kings River Watershed Partnership, and later with Eureka Springs Mayor Dani Joy, to discuss the details of installing cutting edge water gauges which would measure water flow and warn in case of future flooding.

The only catch is the hefty price.

Hot Springs ponies up

The city of Hot Springs, which has flooding problems similar to Eureka's, recently installed a network of six such gauges in its downtown area.

The cost of installation and the first year's maintenance was $115,000, and the projected cost of yearly maintenance is an additional $50,000.

According Reed Green, Assistant Director of the USGS Arkansas Water Science Center in Fayetteville, Hot Springs was happy enough with the system it's planning to install more gauges next year.

The city paid for the gauges by passing a "storm water utility fee" to pass along the cost to taxpayers.

Green said the gauges take measurements every five minutes and broadcast the information hourly.

He added when the rain level reaches a certain point, the information is broadcast more often.

Funding a joint effort

Jaysson Funkhouser, a surface water specialist with USGS, said its funding structure was set up to work with collaborative entities once the determination has been made to put the gauges in place.

"Usually a group, for example a homeowners association, will come to us with the request for a new gauge," Funkhouser said. "It doesn't matter if the group is public or private. They explain why they need it and we go from there."

Kings River gauge

At the behest of his constituents, King met with representatives of the Kings River Watershed Partnership and others to discuss the feasibility of putting such a gauge along the Kings River, possibly near Marble, to warn homeowners downstream of emergency conditions.

It would also alert outdoor water enthusiasts of potential ideal sporting conditions on the river.

King looking for money

King said if state money could be found for its installation, possibly other parties could pool their resources for its yearly maintenance and make it a reality.

Shawna Miller agreed the cost would be a prohibitive undertaking for her group.

"The gauge at Grandview has been there since 1939, and it seems to be sufficient for the purposes of the Corps of Engineers," she said. "It's true some Madison County residents have expressed interest because of the safety issue, and it would help Carroll County too. Fortunately, relatively few people live in the Kings River flood plain at this time. When you spend taxpayer money, you have to have some really good support. If more development happens there, the need for the gauge would increase. We would have trouble just maintaining a new gauge, due to the cost."

Miller suggested if installing a new gauge would help the recreational sector, funding might be found there.