To:
From:
Re:
E. Motion:
Discussion:
City of Nashua, Public Works Division
Board of Public Works Meeting Date: November 18, 2021
Daniel Hudson, P.E., City Engineer
Engineering Department
Merrimack River Streamgage - U.S. Geological Survey Three-year Agreement
To approve a three-year Joint Funding Agreement with the U. S. Geological Survey,
New England Water Science Center, New Hampshire-Vermont Office, Pembroke,
New Hampshire for installation and maintenance of a Streamgage on the Merrimack
River in the amount of $25,850. Funding will be through: Department: 169
Wastewater; Fund: Wastewater; Activity: Merrimack River Levee.
Following the flooding events of 1936 and 1938, the National Weather Service
monitored changes in elevation of the Merrimack River in Nashua, NH at the Taylor
Falls Bridge, from March 1939 through September 1953. In 1964 the City of Nashua
installed a staff gage on the western most pier of the Taylor Falls Bridge (NH Route
111 west), which is still monitored by City personnel.
In 2009, with the help of NH Department of Environmental Services, the City
reinstalled a real-time monitoring station to continuously measure river elevation at the
site. This information benefited the City by providing river height during large wet
weather events such as the May 2006 Mother’s Day floods, but the streamgage fell into
disrepair and is currently inoperable and unrepairable.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is interested in reinstalling a streamgage
at this location, downstream of the confluence of the Nashua and Merrimack Rivers,
and east of the Nashua levee. Through a joint agreement, USGS will install new state
of the art equipment, and provide operation and maintenance on an ongoing basis. The
data collected at the streamgage will be publicly available via the USGS WaterAlert
and WaterNow systems, providing information critical to the City’s levee operation
and maintenance and emergency management efforts.
Funding for this three year joint project will be shared as follows:
Responsible Party
City of Nashua USGS
Element FY22 FY23 FY24 FY22
Installation of gaging stations $3,800 $14,300
Operation and maintenance $7,200 $7,350 $7,500
Total $11,000 $7,350 $7,500 $14,300
The City will be invoiced annually for its share, at a total cost of $25,850 over the three
year term of the agreement.
