SFR New USGS Graph Gripe

Sorta fishing-related
Divad

Divad

Whitefish
I want to complain about the extra steps one must take for USGS gauge data, specifically CFS vs mean CFS. This was a one click per river operation before.

Now I have to click 3 times, which is small but when checking a bunch of water it’s frustrating. Who the heck defaults gauges to ft readings.

“Hey Bob let’s float at 13.5 to 14.25ft”
“Are you sure looks like the river is at 14.15ft now?”

SAYS NOBODY EVER
 
Divad said:
I want to complain about the extra steps one must take for USGS gauge data, specifically CFS vs mean CFS. This was a one click per river operation before.

Now I have to click 3 times, which is small but when checking a bunch of water it’s frustrating. Who the heck defaults gauges to ft readings.

“Hey Bob let’s float at 13.5 to 14.25ft”
“Are you sure looks like the river is at 14.15ft now?”

SAYS NOBODY EVER
Click to expand...
OK, so I didn't do anything wrong. Yes, annoying.
 
Divad said:
I want to complain about the extra steps one must take for USGS gauge data, specifically CFS vs mean CFS. This was a one click per river operation before.

Now I have to click 3 times, which is small but when checking a bunch of water it’s frustrating. Who the heck defaults gauges to ft readings.

“Hey Bob let’s float at 13.5 to 14.25ft”
“Are you sure looks like the river is at 14.15ft now?”

SAYS NOBODY EVER
Click to expand...
I hear ya, but I kind of like some of the new functionality.
I liked when they defaulted to cfs with median flows shown, too.
There is a comment/question box available on each page. Let’s ask for default to cfs with median displayed!

edit: I made this request. We shall see.
 
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Divad said:
Who the heck defaults gauges to ft readings.
Click to expand...
Perhaps gauge height is more useful for riverfront property owners and county EMS and those are the primary user groups that justify the stations?

A default option would be nice though.

I use the USGS site mainly for research to learn a stream by pulling historical and mean data to match up to personal observations and other intel I dig up that I update whenever a stream changes. After I learn a stream I use an app that gives me a choice of USGS or AHPS data on a plot with my latest detailed observation-intel for trip planning.
 
Funny about the preference for either gauge height or flow cfs. I look at cfs for most rivers, but I still refer to gauge height for the Skagit and Sauk, because that is what was available before USGS put stream gauges on the internet. But I did notice this change the other day when I was checking stream flows. If I had my druthers, I'd druther have both gauge height and cfs on the same page, along with turbidity. That would make a single page a really valuable tool.
 
Salmo_g said:
Funny about the preference for either gauge height or flow cfs. I look at cfs for most rivers, but I still refer to gauge height for the Skagit and Sauk, because that is what was available before USGS put stream gauges on the internet. But I did notice this change the other day when I was checking stream flows. If I had my druthers, I'd druther have both gauge height and cfs on the same page, along with turbidity. That would make a single page a really valuable tool.
Click to expand...
I spent a few decades working on a river where we reported "cfs" to all parties but then again, who really cares about gage height on a Columbia River reservoir (unless you are unaware of "tide fluctuation" and got your brand new Smokercraft sitting high and dry when the "tide" went out.)?

Such first-world problems!
 
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Salmo_g said:
I'd druther have both gauge height and cfs on the same page
Click to expand...
The AHPS pages have discharge and gauge height on the same plot. But AHPS does not have all the USGS stations.
 
Seriously, if an extra mouse click or two is worth complaining about then things are pretty good.

I remember tracking down and going through USGS' annual "Water Resources Data" reports (or just as likely a cropped off photocopy of the stations I was interested in or worse yet, a fax) to tabulate data for the many projects I worked on over the years. Now, it's all right there plus it's more complete, there's no tedious transcribing to a spreadsheet and we can even get some stations in real time.

Most of the rods rods and reels I'm using are from that era. It really wasn't that long ago.
 
Brian Miller said:
Perhaps gauge height is more useful for riverfront property owners and county EMS and those are the primary user groups that justify the stations?

A default option would be nice though.

I use the USGS site mainly for research to learn a stream by pulling historical and mean data to match up to personal observations and other intel I dig up that I update whenever a stream changes. After I learn a stream I use an app that gives me a choice of USGS or AHPS data on a plot with my latest detailed observation-intel for trip planning.
Click to expand...
All sorts of people need streamflow data for all sorts of reasons. Transportation and water supply are a couple other reasons.

I typically find median daily flow more useful than mean.
 
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