Early flood warning system coming to Duck Creek watershed

January 26, 2011

HUNTINGTON, W.V. - The Huntington District of the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers, along with the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) and Washington and Noble Counties in Ohio, will participate in a project partnership agreement signing on Thursday, Jan. 27, that will officially mark the beginning of the Duck Creek Flood Warning System.

The signing will take place at 1:30 p.m. in the Commissioners’ Assembly Room in the Washington County Courthouse Annex at Marietta.

The $376,000 project is the result of a study conducted by the Corps in 2005. The flood warning system, along with data from the National Weather Service (NWS), will monitor stream levels and rainfall within the Duck Creek watershed and electronically provide real-time data for the National Weather Service, enabling Washington and Noble County emergency management personnel to make decisions about evacuations and related issues in the event of an emergency.

The flood warning system will consist of two stand-alone rain gauges, three

stand-alone stream gauges, and two stream/rain combination gauges, computer monitoring equipment, transmitters, and associated equipment enclosures.

The Duck Creek watershed covers an area of about 287 square miles in portions

of Noble, Washington, Monroe and Guernsey counties. The watershed experiences periodic flash floods along minor tributaries and headwater flooding on major streams.

In addition to the MWCD and Washington and Noble Counties, project sponsors

are the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Ohio Emergency Management Agency

(OEMA), and citizens within the Duck Creek watershed.

The MWCD is the cost-share sponsor, contributing 35 percent of the total project cost - $78,341.

For more information, please contact the Huntington District Public Affairs

Office at 304-399-5353 or the MWCD at 877-363-8500.