For those that haven't, you should check Bob's river reports page and go to the Hoh USGS gauge page and email your concern about it being taken offline. I told them it's a great resource and the should look to other, less usefull, gauges to unplug (like the Tolt) before they take the Hoh down.

Bruce

p.s. - I just got this reply from the USGS about the mail I sent them. I'd encourage you all to drop a line to the District chief at the bottom of the note:
--------------------------
"Folks,

In has come to our attention recently that the funding that was initially
agreed to for the operation and maintenance of the Hoh River near Forks
gage and satellite telemetry isn't forthcoming for this year. The
cooperating agency is unable to provide the necessary funds, and under
Federal laws that govern our work, we are required to have the funding to
operate data collection sites. Without another source of funds, we can not
continue the operation of the gage for the remainder of this year and into
the 2001 water year.

The Hoh River gage and telemetry is critical to the understanding of the
water resources of the Olympic Peninsula and for the interest of the public
for water recreation and sports fishing interests. The gage has been in
operation since October 1960 and has provided considerable data and
information to water resources managers, researchers, government agencies,
etc. We wish to continue the gage and real-time data to the Web.

We welcome communications with interested parties to discuss an agreement
with the U.S. Geological Survey for water resources data collection
activities. We welcome interests from government agencies, and interested
groups, such as water recreation or sports fishing companies,
organizations, etc. You can discuss the details with William (Bill)
Wiggins, Assistant District Chief for Hydrologic Data for the Washington
operations at (253) 428-3600, extension 2608 or wwiggins@usgs.gov .

Please let me know if you have any questions the Hoh River gage. Thank you
for your time and consideration.

--Scott--

Scott M. Knowles "Opinions expressed are entirely my own."
sknowles@usgs.gov
Hydrologist, MS-Geography

"All things merge into one, and a river runs through it."
- Norman MacLean


[This message has been edited by B. Gray (edited 04-13-2000).]

[This message has been edited by B. Gray (edited 04-13-2000).]

I've got an extra $100 to help keep the gauge open. How about the rest of you. Heck, I can spend over this amount just getting to and from Forks.

Here is the response I received.

You ask some excellent questions. We are working to find another source of
funding for the Hoh River gage, and hopefully we'll be successful. Part of
the answer is the reality of the needs and demands for water data and
information, and funding sources.

The Tolt River has a lot of gages for Seattle City Water's management of
the Tolt Reservoir system and downstream impacts. The same for the Sultan
River and Snohomish County PUD's operation. Some of the gages are also
(co-)funded by King County and other agencies for flood monitoring or
fisheries purposes.

The Olympic Peninsula has always been difficult to find cooperators outside
the utilities for the Skokomish, Wynoochee and Elwha Rivers, and the
fisheries agencies, the Department of Ecology and the coastal Tribes
(Quinault, Hoh, etc.). We haven't been able to get local agencies into
agreements for water resources data except the northeast rivers (Dungeness,
Quilicene, etc.).

Also, we have only limited control of the gages we operate, we have to
establish a need in the public interest and compete for a limited pot of
monies, or find a cooperator to fund or share the costs of the gage(s).
The Hoh River gage was funded by the National Park Service along with a
network of gages in the Hoh basin until their interest concluded (project)
where the Hoh Tribe picked up the funding.

Unfortunately, they weren't able to commit the funds this year as promised
(agreement). So we're left to find alternative funding for this year and
search for a new cooperator for next year, or hope the Tribe agrees to
monies next year. That's Bill Wiggins' job as Data Chief.

Please let me now if you have more questions.

--Scott--

Scott M. Knowles "Opinions expressed are entirely my own."
sknowles@usgs.gov
Hydrologist, MS-Geography

"All things merge into one, and a river runs through it."
- Norman MacLean
Hello,
I just wanted to express my opinion on the removal of the Hoh
river gage. This station is pretty much the only way I can get an idea on
the conditions of the rivers are at the coast. I have often used this
station to cancel trips that I make over to the coast at the last minute.
Their are many other stations that could be taken down that would not
impact the sportsman who rely on this data. I have heard it mentioned that
their are 5 gages on the SF Tolt (Why). What about the 3 gages on the
Sultan River (Wow overkill). Lets rethink this and do what makes sense. I
spend $1500+ a year in the town of Forks in fishing trips. If this gage
goes down I will probably not be making many trips since any hint of rain I
will not go, when I probably should go because the weather report is wrong,
and the rivers haven't really been affected (Something I will no longer be
able to see with the gage gone).

I, too, have sent an Email in support of the gauge being kept alive (though I must admit to not planning my weekend fishing trips around the readings). I made the point that there's a safety issue here, too, as the drive to Forks can be hazardous in the winter. Any vehicles on the road that wouldn't be there if better information was available put lives at risk. (No response to date.)

Two questions: (a) What does it cost to keep the gage running for one year? and (b) Are the parties that benefit most from the gauge's operation (presumably sports fishermen, other river users and selected businesse in the Forks area) willing to share the financial burden?

Better yet, why not put the gauge on a pay-per-view basis -- $1 on your Visa card to take a look? (The actual price could be calibrated based on the average number of views today vs. total cost of running the gauge.) The web technology is available to do this (e.g. through Pay2See and others). Then at the end of the year, those people or groups who donated money up front to support the Hoh gauge would be rebated a prorata portion of the money collected from the viewers. (Heck, it could even turn into a money-making proposition . . . OK, maybe not, but the principle of 'the user pays' shouldn't be too controversial.)