For drought conditions monitoring, why are the periods of record for the surface-water and ground-water indicator sites different for the same county or between counties?
U.S. Geological Survey data collection activities have been varied throughout our history. We have collected different data at various locations for various purposes. The drought conditions monitoring program is a relatively new program, but many of the sites in the network have been active for decades, while others are fairly new depending on their original data collection purpose. The reasons for the differences in periods of record are many, but the important thing is that water managers have all the data available on which to base their decisions. One aspect of the USGS mission is to provide the best available data so that management decisions do not include a bias based on inadequate knowledge.
Related Questions
- For drought conditions monitoring, why are the periods of record for the surface-water and ground-water indicator sites different for the same county or between counties?
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