The Houserville Spring creek gauge reported temps up until about, oh 5 years ago. I had those temps "calibrated" to the local streams (after all the weather is about the same). The real time recordings disappeared on the USGS site, but were reported on the NOAA site 4 times a day. Probably good enough. First the real time reporting ended. I followed up and it was a victim of the budget cuts (remember those?). NOAA continued to report them for about a year or more. Suddenly, that disappeared. I followed up, writing both USGS and NOAA. NOAA referred me to USGS and the person at USGS didn't know much but speculated the sensor quit working and was not repaired. There you go.
LJRA looked into installing a temperature probe and turbidity meter at the gauge near spruce creek. Turbity- forget it. The meter is expensive and maintenance was high. The cost of the temperature probe was not bad, I believe about 2000. The big problem was data collection and management. The costs were quite high on a yearly basis if handled through USGS. Surprisingly so. Discussions ensued about other options- not storing the data- this reduced it a bit. Then identifying sponsorship or a regular source of income to pay for it. This didn't work out because sponsorship cannot be recognized on the USGS site. Finally, talk was of remote monitoring and real time streaming on a website (similar to the river cam at green hills) through an internet connection. This was a reasonable option. However, then logistical issues about placement and regular maintenance of the website made this more of an endeavor than the potential benefits. Considering limited time and resources, a compromise was made. The key was understanding temperature swings and identify stressed areas. Temperature data probes were installed at key locations, but they do not record the temps remotely. They must be retrieved and downloaded periodically. Data collection continues.
The idea of remote, real time, monitoring is not dead. All we need is a dedicated person to maintain the site and long-term sponsors. People who are willing to fill these roles can join the conversation and present their ideas on the LJRA forum and/or attend the monthly meetings.
