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S.W. Wolcott

Publications and source records attributed to S.W. Wolcott.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1986

Cost effectiveness of the US Geological Survey's stream-gaging program in New York

The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a 5-year nationwide analysis to define and document the most cost effective means of obtaining streamflow data. This report describes the stream gaging network in New York and documents the cost effectiveness of its operation; it also identifies data uses and funding sources for the 174 continuous-record stream gages currently operated (1983). Those gages as well as 189 crest-stage, stage-only, and groundwater gages are operated with a budget of $1.068 million. One gaging station was identified as having insufficient reason for continuous operation and was converted to a crest-stage gage. Current operation of the 363-station program requires a budget of $1.068 million/yr. The average standard error of estimation of continuous streamflow data is 13.4%. Results indicate that this degree of accuracy could be maintained with a budget of approximately $1.006 million if the gaging resources were redistributed among the gages. The average standard error for 174 stations was calculated for five hypothetical budgets. A minimum budget of $970,000 would be needed to operated the 363-gage program; a budget less than this does not permit proper servicing and maintenance of the gages and recorders. Under the restrictions of a minimum budget, the average standard error would be 16.0%. The maximum budget analyzed was $1.2 million, which would decrease the average standard error to 9.4%. (Author 's abstract)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1985

Hydraulic and sediment characteristics at the North Channel Bridge, Jamaica Bay, New York

Data were collected during the spring of 1984 in the vicinity of North Channel Bridge in Jamaica Bay, New York to define the hydraulic regime and the physical characteristics and chemical quality of bottom sediments. The data were used in a semiquantitative analysis to predict the effects of bridge replacement and the attendant resuspension of bottom sediments, on the hydraulics and quality of water and bottom sediments. The bay-bottom configuration at the bridge site was defined, and continuous tidal stage and tidal velocity data were collected for about a month. In addition, eight bottom-sediment samples were collected near the bridge and analyzed. Results of the hydraulic analysis show that the proposed bridge should not have any measurable effect on the net water transport at the bridge cross section. The sediment data indicate that bottom sediments are relatively unpolluted in the vicinity of the bridge. Seventy-five percent of the resuspended bottom sediments will probably settle within 186 m of the bridge during an average ebb tide. Metals and nutrients released from the sediments to the water column are expected to be diluted far below detection limits. The extra oxygen demand exerted by the resuspended bottom sediments is also expected to be far less than ambient biochemical oxygen demand of the water column. (USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗