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Cost-effectiveness of the stream-gaging program in New Jersey

Water-Resources Investigations Report 84-4108
By:  and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/wri844108

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Abstract

The results of a study of the cost-effectiveness of the stream-gaging program in New Jersey are documented. This study is part of a 5-year nationwide analysis undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey to define and document the most cost-effective means of furnishing streamflow information. This report identifies the principal uses of the data and relates those uses to funding sources, applies, at selected stations, alternative less costly methods (that is flow routing, regression analysis) for furnishing the data, and defines a strategy for operating the program which minimizes uncertainty in the streamflow data for specific operating budgets. Uncertainty in streamflow data is primarily a function of the percentage of missing record and the frequency of discharge measurements. In this report, 101 continuous stream gages and 73 crest-stage or stage-only gages are analyzed. A minimum budget of $548,000 is required to operate the present stream-gaging program in New Jersey with an average standard error of 27.6 percent. The maximum budget analyzed was $650,000, which resulted in an average standard error of 17.8 percent. The 1983 budget of $569,000 resulted in a standard error of 24.9 percent under present operating policy. (USGS)
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Cost-effectiveness of the stream-gaging program in New Jersey
Series title Water-Resources Investigations Report
Series number 84-4108
DOI 10.3133/wri844108
Edition -
Year Published 1984
Language ENGLISH
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey,
Description vi, 103 p. :ill., maps ;28 cm.
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