BOARD04W

• Board Meeting Date: 9/13/2003
• Description: CF Section - Finance Committee Meeting
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Memorandum to Rod Kuharich
july 14, 2004

Page 3

the data sensed by the mechanical measuring devices. If the mechanical equipment is not properly
maintained and periodically refurbished, the quality of the data diminishes.

In FY05 the $55,000 is to be used to repair and refurbish the following sites (sites and amounts may
change due to circumstances):

Horse Creek at Hwy 194, new control
Huerfano R. below Huerfano Dam
Grape Creek near Wetcliffe (finish)
Williams Fork of Vampa (open-retired USGS site)
Fish Creek of the Vampa
Updating 4 Fryingpan-Arkansas gage sites to satellite monitoring
Bank-operated cableway at Surface Creek nr. Cedaredge
Accububble for Uncompahgre River at Colona

ReD/aeement of Satellite Te/emetrv EauiDment

DWR requests $248,000 for replacement of 45 out-dated DCPs and associated satellite telemetry
equipment and upgrading satellite transmission components, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) operates the satellite via which we relay the water'f1ow data to the central computer
in Denver, The use of this satellite and all the ancillary hardware and software, including staffing, is valued
at $430 million dollars and is provided to the State of Colorado at no charge. The worldwide use of the
satellite has increased to the point that, in the future, more data will be transmitted more often. NOAA has,
therefore, mandated that all DCPs using the satellite for data transmission must be upgraded to transmit at
a faster rate within the next nine years. Many of the DCPs that DWR operates cannot be upgraded, The
useful life of the equipment averages ten years. Therefore, in order to continue using the present system
to collect and transmit basic stream flow data, all sets of electronic equipment must be replaced over the
next ten years. Since DWR operates 320 total sets of DCP equipment this equates to an average of thirty-
two replacements per year.

$ 5,000
$ 5,000
$ 5,000
$10,000
N/A
$15,000
$ 5,000
$ 3,000

This new standard for faster transmission rates for sending data from the stream gages to the central
computer will greatly improve the 'real-time' nature of the system, Once the new DCPs are in operation,
data transmission will change from once every four hours to every hour. The cost of new DCPs with the
new radios is $4,800. To replace antennas, batteries, sensors, etc., the total cost per site averages
$8,000.

Flood Hardenina of Existina Stream Gaaes

This part of the gaging station program involves flood hardening those stream gages used for notification in
the event of floods or dam breaks. Flood hardening, by definition, allows for stream flow data to continue
to be transmitted during a flood event. Flood hardening prevents the need to develop a plan to remove all
equipment from stream gages prior to their destruction by floods. While this equipment removal saves
equipment costs, this does not allow for data transmission during flood events to emergency managers
and the public.

Flood hardening involves moving or modifying the existing stream gages so that they can continue to
operate during flood events, Some times it may be necessary to add a second gage at the site on higher
ground so that the low flows needed for accurate water administration can be measured and the high flows
of floods also can be measu~. Another fonn of flood hardening involves rebuilding the stream channel
so that accurate data will continue to be available during the flood. Often the stream channel becomes
scoured or modified to the point that existing relationships between stage and discharge are no longer
valid at high flow. Even if the data continues to be available, it is of little or no value in detennining the flow
of the river.

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