Budget cuts may threaten Iowa stream gauge system

IOWA CITY - Proposed budget cuts for the U.S. Geological Survey could mean 20 percent fewer federally supported flood gauges used to monitor Iowa waterways.

The 30 gauges could be cut to 24, and one plan would shut down gauges installed in response to 2008 flooding in Cedar Rapids.

According to Iowa City Press-Citizen, about 50 regional officials attended a meeting Tuesday in Iowa City to discuss the gauge budget problem and what it could mean to Iowa.

Maren Stoflet of the National Weather Service says the gauges are critical to predicting floods.

The geological survey program provides only some of the gauges used in Iowa, but the survey's gauges have been described as the "backbone" of the gauge network.

The gauges cost between $3,500 and $15,000 a year to maintain.