The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey, signed a six-year, $15 million cooperative endeavor agreement with the Office of Community Development Jan. 11 for the installation and operation of up to 100 new river and rain gauges throughout the state.

This effort to build up the statewide gauge network is part of the Louisiana Watershed Initiative’s long-term resilience goals. The agreement also involves the installation and operation of 15 water quality monitors, advancing LWI’s mission to boost the natural functions of floodplains.

Once the new gauges are deployed, the network will provide increased statewide coverage for monitoring rainfall and river flows in real time, providing better information for the development of watershed models. Local communities will have information to respond more effectively to flood-related hazards, while the state’s watershed regions can develop more effective mitigation strategies.

The enhanced network was designed in collaboration with federal partners, universities and local jurisdictions and approved by the Council on Watershed Management in November. The new gauges aim to augment data collection in high-risk areas and address existing network gaps.

To see a map of the enhanced network and learn more about how this work fits into the LWI watershed modeling program, click here.