MIDFIELD – This community near the Tres Palacios River is the latest link in the network of river and weather gauges operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority to improve flood information and forecasting during floods and storms.

 

Every 15 minutes, the weather gauge automatically feeds data on precipitation, temperatures and humidity to a central computer in Austin, where hydrologists in LCRA's River Operations Center forecast lake levels and make decisions on operating floodgates at dams.  

 

Bob Watts, emergency management coordinator for Matagorda County, said the gauge will help officials provide early warnings to an increasing number of residents who live along and near the Tres Palacios. “Anytime you get the most current readings it helps us be prepared in case we need to warn people downstream,” Watts said.

 

The Midfield station is one of 252 gauges in the lower Colorado River basin as part of LCRA’s Hydromet system (short for Hydrometerological Data Acquisition System). The expanding gauge network is designed to improve the organization’s ability to respond when a flood strikes in the lower Colorado River basin -- one of the most flood-prone regions of the United States.

 

Most of the weather and stream flow gauges are located in the upper parts of the region, along the Highland Lakes and its tributaries, and in the Hill Country, where the basin is widest and flash floods are most common. But the narrow stretches of the lower basin also are subject to floods, and the Tres Palacios River area is the most flood-prone area of Matagorda County, local officials said.

 

Matagorda County Judge Nate McDonald said even a moderately heavy rainfall can cause flooding along the Tres Palacios and make some local roads impassable. “I anticipate this will help in giving an early warning to our folks,” McDonald said.

 

The Midfield gauge represents a cooperative effort between the county and LCRA. Matagorda County officials donated land for the $15,000, battery-operated gauge, which includes a computer and communications equipment to remotely transmit information to a central computer in Austin.  The public can monitor the information on the Internet at http://hydromet.lcra.org.

 

Sean Maijala, LCRA’s supervisor of Hydromet Operations, said the gauge fills a potential gap in the network during heavy rainfalls and fast-moving tropical storms. The information provides another data point that LCRA hydrologists can use during floods as they work to safely release water from the dams that form the Highland Lakes northwest of Austin.  “It helps in fine-tuning activity in the lower basin,” Maijala said.

 

County Commissioner David Woodson, who lives just blocks from the new gauge in the heavily agricultural region, said he sees an additional benefit -- for farmers.

 

“Instead of driving, farmers who live 30, 40 miles away in El Campo and Louise can get on the Web and see how much rain they got on land they farm in that area,” he said.