USGS celebrates 125th anniversary of first streamgauge

摘要

The foundation of water management began on the Rio Grande River in 1889. On April 22, 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) celebrated the placement of its first streamgage in Embudo, N.M., 125 years ago, according to a USGS news release. USGS was founded in 1879. John Wesley Powell, USGS director from 1881 to 1894, proposed conducting an inventory of the flow of streams in the arid West and evaluating the potential for crop irrigation. The first gauging station, installed in Embudo on Jan. 1, was placed at that location because of the need for systematic water resource assessments of western states, the favorable climate, easy rail access, and qualification for congressional funding specifically for the "arid West," the news release says.