City officials have approved an annual agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to fund assets that provide useful data regarding flood events.
The Columbus Board of Works voted to approve the city’s annual stream gauge funding agreement with USGS. The city’s share is $16,700, which is a slight increase from past years, said city/county planning director Jeff Bergman.
The agreement is for two of the five gauges that are a “very vital part” of the Columbus area’s Flood Risk Management Plan, he said. One is located on the Driftwood River near Edinburgh, while the other is on Clifty Creek in Columbus.
The gauges are owned by the USGS and funded through a cost sharing agreement with the city.
Bergman said that the information provided by gauges is publicly available in real time through USGS.
“So our floodplain manager will make use of those,” he said. “They’re probably most critical during a flood event, when I know that folks at Bartholomew County risk management as well as fire department is making use of those gauges to understand flood forecast and severity and those types of things. And I know there’s a number of other agencies, the National Weather Service makes use of those and actually has some inputs into that process that are also helpful to emergency management and fire during a flood event.”
