The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is the agency primarily responsible for the stream-gaging program in the United States. "The stream-gaging program is not represented by a single "network" of stations, but is an aggregation of networks and individual streamflow stations that originally were established for various purposes." As the data from many of these stations "are telemetered by an earth-satellite-based communications system, those data are available in real time for many agencies to conduct water-resources projects and for the National Weather Service (NWS) to forecast floods."¹

The real-time data from many the stream-gaging stations in the NWS Norman Hydrologic Services Area (HSA) are available through the web pages of the USGS, U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and The National Weather Service's Office of Hydrologic Development. The USGS web sites include the Oklahoma and Texas real-time web pages. The USACE Tulsa, Oklahoma office also has a real-time river data web page. The National Weather Service provides real-time river data through the Hydrometeorological Automated Data System (HADS) web site.

NWS river forecasts are based, to a great extent, on data from USGS stream-gaging stations. The USGS operates most of its stream gages on a cooperative basis with other Federal, state and local agencies that fund individual gaging stations for agency-specific projects or regulatory needs. Reductions in stream gaging program funds, due to budget reductions for the USGS or for cooperating agencies, usually require that some stations be discontinued. Often such discontinuances adversely affect the NWS's river forecasting program.

For more information on the USGS stream-gaging program, see the USGS web sites: "Stream-Gaging Program of the U.S. Geological Survey", "Stream Gaging and Flood Forecasting, a partnership of the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Weather Service" and "Streamflow Information for the Nation".

¹ "Stream-Gaging Program of the U.S. Geological Survey"