U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2010–3025

May 2010

U.S. Geological Survey Streamgage Operation and 

Maintenance Cost Evaluation

...from the National Streamflow Information Program

Printed on recycled paper

To help meet the goal of providing earth-science 

information to the Nation, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 

operates and maintains the largest streamgage network in 

the world, with over 7,600 active streamgages in 2010. This 

network is operated in cooperation with over 850 Federal, 

tribal, State, and local funding partners. The streamflow 

information provided by the USGS is used for the protection 

of life and property; for the assessment, allocation, and 

management of water resources; for the design of roads, 

bridges, dams, and water works; for the delineation of flood 

plains; for the assessment and evaluation of habitat; for 

understanding the effects of land-use, water-use, and climate 

changes; for evaluation of water quality; and for recreational 

safety and enjoyment.

USGS streamgages are managed and operated to 

rigorous national standards, allowing analyses of data from 

streamgages in different areas and spanning long time periods, 

some with more than 100 years of data. About 90 percent of 

USGS streamgages provide streamflow information real-time 

on the web. Physical measurements of streamflow are made 

at streamgages multiple times a year, depending on flow 

conditions, to ensure the highest level of accuracy possible. 

In addition, multiple reviews and quality assurance checks are 

performed before the data is finalized.

In 2006, the USGS reviewed all activities, operations, 

equipment, support, and costs associated with operating and 

maintaining a streamgage program (Norris and others, 2008). A 

summary of the percentages of costs associated with activities 

required to operate a streamgage on an annual basis are 

presented in figure 1. This information represents what it costs 

to fund a “typical” USGS streamgage and how those funds 

are utilized. It should be noted that some USGS streamgages 

have higher percentages for some categories than do others 

depending on location and conditions. Forty-one percent of 

the funding for the typical USGS streamgage is for labor 

costs of the USGS staff responsible for the measurement of 

the streamflow in the field and the time in the office to quality 

assure and finalize the data (fig. 1). It is reasonable that funding 

for the entire national streamgage network would closely 

follow the percentages shown in figure 1 as to how the funds 

are invested in the network. However, actual costs are specific 

This Fact-Sheet is one in a series that highlights information or recent research findings from the USGS National Streamflow 

Information Program (NSIP). The investigations and scientific results reported in this series require a nationally consistent 

streamgage network with stable long-term monitoring sites and a rigorous program of data collection, quality assurance, 

management, archiving, and synthesis. NSIP produces multipurpose, unbiased surface-water information that is readily 

accessible to all.

to a particular streamgage and can vary substantially depending 

on location and operational issues.

Reference Cited

Norris and others, 2008, Qualitative comparison of streamflow 

information programs of the U.S. Geological Survey and three 

non-Federal agencies: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File 

Report 2007–1426, 12 p.

USGS Streamflow Information can be found at:

• http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis

• http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch

• http://water.usgs.gov/nsip

by J. Michael Norris

Labor for field

and office

41 percent

Administrative

25 percent

Travel

2 percent

Vehicles

5 percent

Data management

and delivery

7 percent

Field equipment

10 percent

Building and utilities

10 percent

Figure 1. Percentage of operation and maintenance funding 

invested in various activities for a typical USGS streamgage.
Field

• Routine visits to streamgages

• Emergency repair visits to 

streamgages

• Visits during flooding

• Maintenance and inspection visits

• Surveying visits

• Streamflow measurements

• Analysis of the discharge 

computations (field and office)

• Technical training

Streamgage Operation and Maintenance Tasks

Labor for Field and Office:

Office

• Stage data edits

• Development and maintenance of rating curves

• Analysis of rating curve-shifts from changing channel 

conditions

• Monitoring real-time information for instrumentation 

problems

• Review of records for rating-curve and discharge 

computations

• Quality assurance of the data

• Finalization and publication of the streamflow information

• Safety and administrative training

• Safety program management

• National and local management and 

technical oversight of the program

• Local quality assurance

• Facility costs

• Personnel management

• Purchasing and contracts

Administrative:

• Financial management

• Salary of hydrographers/supervisors

• Salary of administrative support required by the program

• Funding-partner interactions (over 850 nationwide)

• USGS communications (with Congress, the public, and media)

• Development of funding agreements

Building and Utilities:

• Secure storage space for files

• Vehicle parking space, boat storage

• Shop space, laboratory space, warehouse space

Field Equipment:

• Office space for the streamgage program staff

• Heating, cooling, trash, water, gas, and electric power for office 

space and streamgages

• Gage houses, data loggers, stage or velocity sensors, telemetry 

equipment, and other equipment for streamgage operation

• Boats and motors, boat maintenance, snowmobiles, all-terrain 

vehicles, and annual repair and maintenance costs

• Generators, survey equipment, field laptop computers, and hand 

and power tools

Data Management and Delivery:

• Equipment for measuring streamflow (meters, Acoustic Doppler 

Current Profilers, bridge cranes, and automated loggers)

• Safety equipment such as traffic-control equipment and confinedspace safety equipment

• Waders, personal floatation devices, and cell phone

• Telemetry (satellite up-links, phone lines, etc.)

Vehicles:

• Local Information Technology infrastructure, including servers, 

computers, printers, plotters, and scanners

• Information Technology support, support of the data base, Web 

access, data archival and retrieval, and network communications

• Purchasing or leasing field vehicles

Travel:

• Fuel and vehicle maintenance

• Lodging and per diem for staff during visits to streamgages