Caddo River Gauge

[daxhaltom]

I might be the only one that didnt know but the gauge for the Caddo River is not reading right. River was much lower than it said. Just a heads up.

[TonyC]

Is there some way to report this to the USGS so they can go fix their gauge?

[Jim Krueger]

Ever since the big flood last month I too have suspected the gauge hasn't been reading as before. As an example, I looked at the reading of 5.68 ft. yesterday and feel like it's probably about 5.25ft. or so based on my past experience. Just yesterday, I sent finally sent a note to Ron Kurnik at Glenwood to ask if he was observing this also.

Jim

[Jim Krueger]

Inquiry made to the USGS, I'll post back when/if I learn more.

Jim

[Jim E]

I've been estimating that it is reading .40 ft higher that actual. Have only float fished it since the flood though since other streams were a bit low for fishing (not to mention yaking!), at least for my likes.

[Cowper]

If somebody lives close, and can see the "stick" gage, write down some times and exact readings based on a visual sighting, and then carefully compare them to what the USGS was reporting at exactly the same time. This can help "troubleshoot" the gage.

USGS techs will almost certainly investigate any hardware or calibration issues with the equipment. If that doesn't fix it, then the readings you collect may help figure if the Caddo gage is starting to do what the Big Piney gage did a few years ago.

It started rising, and falling, much more slowly than the river. For example, if the river went from 2 feet to 6 feet in 3 hours, the gage might show a slow rise to 4 feet over 48 hours. Then as the the river fell back to 2 feet based on real, visual readings, the gage would show much slower fall, and might still read 3 feet, a good level, for several days after the river was really too low for good floating. USGS folks checked out all the gage hardware and couldn't find anything wrong.

Then one day some folks went up there and found that a big flood had buried the end of the gage under sand and gravel. A few hours of wading and digging later, and the end of the gage was uncovered. That night, you could even see the exact time they were digging based on the gage suddenly changing level when it was uncovered. The gage has been reading normally ever since.

Looking at the Caddo readings, it is not nearly as bad as what the Piney gage was doing, but if continues to act funny, then go wading around and look at it during the lowest water in summer to see if you can put your hand on the bottom end of the gage. If you can't reach it because it is buried in sand, then that could be the problem.

[Jim Krueger]

I have received a response from Jaysson E. Funkhouser,P.E. with the USGS.

Jaysson says, " The Caddo gage was visited several times after the June 11 flood,and it was found to be reading correctly every time.The last visit to the gage was made during the first week of July and a discharge measurement was made (the stage was reading correctly when we visited the site). The flow data were worked up through that day. So, the cfs you are seeing on the web are correct. The flood of June 11 caused a large shift in the stage/discharge curve. So, the stage/flow readings that you are seeing now do not represent the stage/flow readings that were occurring prior to June 11."

I know Jaysson, and the folks at the USGS appreciate our interest and support of USGS streampages, and I told him I certainly appreciate his response.

From my perspective, I only wish I had a better understanding of hydrology. I always thought the stage or elevation of a stream was based on a fixed elevation datum nearby the site. In this case, the hwy 240 bridge the gauge is attached to is a certain elevation above sea level that I wouldn't think would change. In all the years of paddling the Caddo, I thought about painting a sight gauge several times but never did. It would have been interesting to compare now.
One thing that is evident now though is the previous stages for various floats on the Caddo are a bit low. I think I agree most with Jim Enns assessment of needing to subtract about .40 ft from the gauge reading to equal pre-flood readings.

Thank you all for your comments!


Best Regards
Jim

[Jim Krueger]

One afterthought here; until this flood event, I never really considered why I base my stream floatability assessments the way I do. For example, I have always paid attention to the stage on the Caddo and not cfs, and on the Ouachita at Rockport , always the cfs rather than stage. I guess it's based on what information I have had for the longest.

Jim

[Jim Krueger]

James Petersen, Hydrologist with the USGS was kind enough to visit with me and give me a better understanding of hydrology and how this major event has reshaped the river. I continue to be so pleased with the reliability and convenience of the stream gauges and appreciate the work of our friends at USGS!


Best Regards
Jim

[lalyle]

Thanks for the input and insight from all of you guys.