USGS Celebrates 100th Anniversary of Flint River Monitoring at Bainbridge, Georgia

Measuring the Pulse of the River

Who:

Mark Harrell, Mayor of Bainbridge
Memphis Vaughan, U.S Army Corps of Engineers-Mobile
Joel Lanier, National Weather Service-Tallahassee
Tim Cash, Georgia Environmental Protection Division
Ed Martin, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

What:

100th Anniversary Celebration

When:

Monday, October 1, 2007
2:00 pm

Where:

Pavilion in Cheney Griffin Park along the Flint River in Bainbridge.

Why:

On October 1, 1907, the streamgage that water resources managers call “02356000 Flint River at Bainbridge, Ga.” began reporting the volume of water flowing and river height of the Flint River at Bainbridge, Ga. Through droughts, floods, and disputes over water availability, the station provided important information for public safety and resource management. Today, the Flint River at Bainbridge streamgage is the 18th gage in Georgia with more than 100 years of operation, and one of a small number of gages in the network of more than 7000 gages in the U.S. that have 100-year records. The gage still reports flow and height of the Flint River; it also monitors precipitation and meteorological conditions, reporting the data in near real-time via satellite telemetry to users around the world, including anyone with an internet connection. The most downstream of 27 gages in the Flint River Basin, the Bainbridge gage provides critical information in management of water resources between Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.