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A New Evaluation of the USGS Streamgaging Network--A Report to Congress

Figure Descriptions

Figure 1

This figure shows a bar graph. There is a bar for each year, 1993-97. The x-axis is the number of stations. The top of all bars, indicating the total number of gages, is about 7,000, dipping slightly in 1995-97. The bottom portion of the bar indicates the number of gages with telemetry, which increase mostly linearly from about 1,000 in 1993 to about 4,400 in 1997.

Figure 2

The streamflow shown in this hydrograph declines slowly until reaching about 20 ft3/sec midday of August 26. It then climbs sharply and ends, still climbing, near 4,000 ft3/sec by midday August 28.

Figure 3

This figure is in two parts.

Part A shows the following data points on a line graph. The x-axis is the year and the y-axis the Percent of Interstate Transfer Points. 

1921,18
1926,22
1931,44
1936,45
1941,54
1946,59
1951,63
1956,64
1961.64
1966,67
1971,66
1976,65
1981,65
1986,66
1991,66
1996,61

Part B shows 331 interstate stream crossings on a U.S. map. The crossings are fairly evenly distributed along state borders. Crossings not adequately gaged are marked in magenta; most, but not all, are in the south and southwest.

Figure 4

This figure is in two parts.

Part A shows the following data points on a line graph. The x-axis is the year and the y-axis the Percent of Basins. 

1921,32
1926,46
1931,64
1936,65
1941,67
1946,69
1951,70
1956,71
1961.73
1966,74
1971,74
1976,75
1981,74
1986,78
1991,74
1996,77

Part B shows the basins on a map of the U.S. Basins not adequately gaged are primarily in these areas: along the coast, in closed basins in the southwest, along the upper Missouri River, and in the Lower Mississippi River basin.

Figure 5

This figure is in two parts.

Part A shows the following data points on a line graph. The x-axis is the year and the y-axis the Percent of Floodplain Population. 

1921,15
1926,19
1931,27
1936,36
1941,41
1946,44
1951,46
1956,47
1961.48
1966,50
1971,52
1976,52
1981,50
1986,48
1991,48
1996,48

Part B shows the reaches on a map of the U.S. About half of the reaches are not adqeuately gaged. No distinct region patterns are apparent.

Figure 5

This figure is in two parts.

Figure 6

This figure is in two parts.

Part A shows the following data points on a line graph. The x-axis is the year and the y-axis the Percent of Service Locations. 

1921,21
1926,29
1931,41
1936,43
1941,56
1946,62
1951,67
1956,68
1961.70
1966,74
1971,75
1976,81
1981,80
1986,78
1991,72
1996,75

Part B shows the service locations on a map of the U.S. The overall pattern of service locations generally follows the population of the U.S. Service locations not adequately gaged are located in all parts of the U.S., with somewhat more occurrences in the middle south.

Figure 7

This figure is in two parts.

Part A shows the following data points on a line graph. The x-axis is the year and the y-axis the Percent of degraded watersheds. 

1921,43
1926,62
1931,76
1936,76
1941,78
1946,79
1951,81
1956,80
1961.82
1966,83
1971,84
1976,85
1981,83
1986,86
1991,86
1996,85

Part B shows the degraded watersheds on a map of the U.S. There are some sharp differences along state lines. Nearly all of the degraded watersheds not adequately gaged are along the coast or in interior basins.

Figure 8

This figure is in two parts.

Part A shows the following data points on a line graph. The x-axis is the year and the y-axis the Percent of ecoregions. 

1921,21
1926,28
1931,38
1936,39
1941,54
1946,62
1951,67
1956,76
1961.79
1966,82
1971,84
1976,87
1981,83
1986,80
1991,80
1996,78

Part B shows the ecoregions on a map of the U.S. Most of the ecoregions not adequately gaged are in the central and south-central U.S.

Figure 8

This figure shows a graph with the x-axis starting in 1921 and continuing to 1995. The y-axis shows the number of stations discontinued. 
1921,0	
1922,0	
1923,0	
1924,0	
1925,0	
1926,1	
1927,1	
1928,0	
1929,0	
1930,2	
1931,0	
1932,1	
1933,1	
1934,2	
1935,1	
1936,0	
1937,3	
1938,2	
1939,2	
1940,2	
1941,6	
1942,1	
1943,4	
1944,4	
1945,2	
1946,2	
1947,3	
1948,2	
1949,4	
1950,7	
1951,6	
1952,6	
1953,13	
1954,10	
1955,15	
1956,10	
1957,9	
1958,26	
1959,22	
1960,25	
1961,31	
1962,14	
1963,12	
1964,17	
1965,21	
1966,22	
1967,22	
1968,41	
1969,57	
1970,67	
1971,109	
1972,61	
1973,54	
1974,36	
1975,52	
1976,41	
1977,62	
1978,82	
1979,89	
1980,75	
1981,121	
1982,135	
1983,84	
1984,49	
1985,57	
1986,108	
1987,59	
1988,41	
1989,74	
1990,91	
1991,156	
1992,109	
1993,109	
1994,155	
1995,169

Figure 10

This figure is in two parts.

Part A shows the following data points on a line graph. The x-axis is the year and the y-axis the Percent of HCDN stations active. 

1921,16
1926,22
1931,36
1936,40
1941,58
1946,67
1951,75
1956,80
1961.85
1966,91
1971,93
1976,88
1981,85
1986,82
1991,80
1996,72

Part B shows the HCDN stations on a map of the U.S. The network is more dense in the eastern half of the U.S. The discontinued HCDN stations appear slightly more commonly in the southern U.S. and Pacific Northwest.

Figure 11

This figure shows a pie chart with the following values: 
USGS Federal Program, $5 Million
USGS Federal Match Cooperative Program, $24 Million
State and Local Agencies, $35 Million
Corps of Engineers, $16 Million
State and Local Agencies, $35 Million
Total: $89 Million

Figure 12

Stacked bar graph from 1974-98. The top of the bars shows total annual funding for the streamgaging program. Components are: Other Federal Agencies, State/Local, USGS Matching, and Federal Program. The total grows steadily linearly (with a few minor bumps) from about $22 million in 1974 to about $40 million in 1998 (1974 dollars). All component grow proportionally, except for Federal Program, which remains flat.

Contents
Introduction Purpose Evaluation Funding
Modernization Future Conclusions References

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U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
Comments and questions are welcome!
Last updated:Monday, 05-Dec-2016 12:50:31 EST
URL: https://water.usgs.gov/streamgaging/descriptions.html