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The project required approximately 100 man-hours by the Lead Hydrographer in <br />Division One for gage design and project organization and approximately another 100 man-hours <br />time from various Division One personnel for the gage installation. <br />LESSONS LEARNED <br />The Atwood gage has been operational for 2 months at this time, with good accuracy and <br />significantly less maintenance than our gages at Kersey, Balzac and Julesburg. Two areas of <br />expense for the Atwood project were new to our gaging station program: <br />A right of way was acquired. The State Land Board required payments to cover legal <br />documents and application processing. These costs ended up being comparable to the <br />purchase of permanent easement from a private landowner, and the application took a <br />surprisingly long time to process. <br />2. Property management costs were necessary. A lane had to be graveled in to the gage, <br />and the lane access from the highway had to gated. Cattle were grazed on the land, so the <br />gage area had to be fenced, and the SLB lessee had to be paid to move his cattle out <br />during the gage construction. <br />These new costs resulted from our objective to build a gage away from the effects of <br />bridges on the channel. Highway bridges provide easy access and free right of way, but cause <br />variability in the channel. The streambed at the new gage has been stable for the limited range <br />of flow thus far experienced. The gage inlets have also remained clear of sand, without <br />maintenance, which is a big improvement over our other gages. <br />The gage has also maintained excellent calibration, with the river stage consistently <br />accurate to within 0.01 ft. The stilling well used to record gage height is inherently more <br />accurate than the stage sensors we have been required to use at other locations. <br />The major test that remains to be evaluated is how well the gage will operate during and <br />after high flows. It is hoped that the narrow width of the channel at the gage site will lend <br />stability to the streambed and hence consistency to the gage discharge reports. <br />