Auburn's Cedar Creek Gaging Station EarthCache
Auburn's Cedar Creek Gaging Station
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This EarthCache will take you to a roadside gaging station on Cedar
Creek in Auburn.,
Mounted on the edge of the bridge, with ID# 04179520.
You need not leave the highway to log this EarthCache.
Cedar Creek begins its formal existence as the
discharge from Cedar Lake, northwest of Corunna, Indiana. The creek
has a drainage area of 175,000 acres before flowing into the St.
Joe river.
In some area's, the topography is very steep.
This steep terrain causes the creek to rise rapidly. Plus, water
runoff can flow into the creek causing the creek to flood, and in
some place's, the creek has a mind of its own. The creek flows
through the St. Joseph river in Indiana and converges with the
Maumee river & St. Mary's river that eventually flows into
northwest Ohio and ends when it flows into Lake Erie. Once a
meandering stream, the majority of Cedar Creek was channelized
(straightened and deepened) in the early 20th Century for
agricultural and urban drainage, which has increased the
watershed's vulnerability to erosion and contaminated runoff.
Gaging Stations is a way for the USGS(United
States Geological Survey) to recording water levels, water
discharge, water chemistry, and water temperature. Real time
data is collected about every 15-60 minutes and is transfered to
the USGS by satellite, telephone, or radio every 1-4 hours.
Cedar Creek has only two gaging stations along it's banks to record
information in a minutes notice. The other gaging station has
another earthcache on it, it is owned by Jtbrady01, cache number
GC1BZ90.
During times of potential flooding, field crews from the (USGS)
race to gather vital hydrologic data. They measure the river flow
and water levels to provide the information needed by river
forecast- ERS, engineers, and emergency managers who rely on data
from the USGS network of about 170 Indiana stream-flow gaging
stations . The network is funded in a cooperative program of
Federal, State, and local agencies, and is part of a national
network maintained by the USGS. Many of these stations are equipped
to transmit real-time streamflow data. In times of emergency,
real-time streamflow information is a key element in the protection
of lives and property.
In order to get credit for this Earthcache, you must:
1.) Post a picture of you and your GPS with the Gaging Station in
the background. To comply with Earthcache.org requirements, I can
not require as as part of the log requirements a picture in your
log. How ever it is still strongly encouraged as the sake of logs
in years past
2.) In your Log on the cache page, put the time of your visit to
the gaging station
3.) E-mail the owner of the cache answerering the following
questions:
a.What is the Discharge Rate at the time of your visit in cubic
feet per second.
b.What was the Stage Level of the gage in feet at the time of your
visit
Check
here to view the real time data.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
[Why do u need 1 for an earthcache?]