USGS Water Data Goes Mobile
One of the first useful websites I found for anglers on the Internet was the USGS Water Data site. The website provides real-time streamflow conditions for over 9,000 streams and rivers across the country. Detailed information about stream discharge levels and water gage level heights are provided. The USGS has just started a beta (early release) version on the web for mobile users to get easier access to the data.
The desktop version has always been an incredibly useful trip planning tool for me before I headed out on fly fishing trips. Nothing worse than driving flippin four hours to that great mountain stream for the weekend only to find out that it blown out along with ten surrounding counties that looked like a hurricane just rolled thought the region. I use this almost every time I go fly fishing and have changed my plans by hundreds of miles based on the reliable data from this web site. Sometime those plans involve me just driving to a closer bar, but it works.
The new mobile site is pretty straight-forward to work with and can be found here: m.waterdata.usgs.gov. No need to install any app, just point your browser to the url and you are good to go. Right away it feels like it was designed to be navigated with you just the use of your index finger.
That is good because the other designed point for the site is for it to work with newer smart phones. A data connection and browser on your iPhone or Android based phone is really all you need. Works with my iPads and other tablets as well. The USGS does mention that it may not older devices or older browsers.
I found the mobile site is very responsive and with very detailed terrain map as the base. The graphs show a seven day view at the gauging station, which can show if the water is...
The new mobile site is pretty straight-forward to work with and can be found here: m.waterdata.usgs.gov. No need to install any app, just point your browser to the url and you are good to go. Right away it feels like it was designed to be navigated with you just the use of your index finger.
That is good because the other designed point for the site is for it to work with newer smart phones. A data connection and browser on your iPhone or Android based phone is really all you need. Works with my iPads and other tablets as well. The USGS does mention that it may not older devices or older browsers.
I found the mobile site is very responsive and with very detailed terrain map as the base. The graphs show a seven day view at the gauging station, which can show if the water is...
Big Spring Update and PFBC Meeting - Part 2
This is the second half of the Big Spring Update and PFBC Meeting - here is the beginning Part 1
Stream Improvements in Section 2
I was really taken back by how good the project looked on Section 2 a few weeks ago. Much of this got rolling in the fall of 2012 when the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) outlined the agency’s habitat management plan for Big Spring Creek with Section 2. The project was finished late summer of 2013 as planned and supported by funds from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.
The plan was to improve 2000 feet of habitat conditions in Big Spring Creek that would favor wild brook trout. To accomplish this the project focussed on narrowing the stream bed in addition to reducing: the rate at which the creek’s waters warm as they flow downstream, the amount of water surface area exposed to solar radiation and late-afternoon dissolved oxygen. Effort was taken to include specific gravel in the steam bed that would favor the wild brook trout during the spawn.
Upon visiting Section 2 of the creek it appeared much of the last of work had recently been completed in September. Clear evidence of the stream narrowing could be seen along the creek and the stream was noticeably deeper. Some areas it appeared as if over 20 feet of stream bed was reclaimed. Grass seed and tree saplings were planted along all the new habitat areas of the stream banks.
The efforts on the project looked great. It had only been a few weeks, but already the...
Stream Improvements in Section 2
I was really taken back by how good the project looked on Section 2 a few weeks ago. Much of this got rolling in the fall of 2012 when the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) outlined the agency’s habitat management plan for Big Spring Creek with Section 2. The project was finished late summer of 2013 as planned and supported by funds from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.
The plan was to improve 2000 feet of habitat conditions in Big Spring Creek that would favor wild brook trout. To accomplish this the project focussed on narrowing the stream bed in addition to reducing: the rate at which the creek’s waters warm as they flow downstream, the amount of water surface area exposed to solar radiation and late-afternoon dissolved oxygen. Effort was taken to include specific gravel in the steam bed that would favor the wild brook trout during the spawn.
Upon visiting Section 2 of the creek it appeared much of the last of work had recently been completed in September. Clear evidence of the stream narrowing could be seen along the creek and the stream was noticeably deeper. Some areas it appeared as if over 20 feet of stream bed was reclaimed. Grass seed and tree saplings were planted along all the new habitat areas of the stream banks.
The efforts on the project looked great. It had only been a few weeks, but already the...
