Continued Operation of a Raingage Network for the Imperial Valley Water Authority Year Two: September 1993 - August 1994

Peppier, Randy A.; Hollinger, Steven E.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/54947 Copy

Description

Title

Continued Operation of a Raingage Network for the Imperial Valley Water Authority Year Two: September 1993 - August 1994

Author(s)

• Peppier, Randy A.
• Hollinger, Steven E.

Contributor(s)

Imperial Valley Water Authority

Issue Date

1995

Keyword(s)

• precipitation monitoring
• groundwater monitoring

Geographic Coverage

Mason County, Illinois; Tazewell County, Illinois

Abstract

Regional precipitation viability affects irrigation water demand on an aquifer, aquifer recharge, and the density of wells and irrigation systems required for agriculture and water supplies. These factors all affect any required water withdrawal allocations from an aquifer. Therefore, knowledge of the precipitation variability over an extensively irrigated region, such as the area within the Imperial Valley Water Authority (IVWA), should provide useful information for the management of ground-water resources in that region. The Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) has a long-term interest in precipitation measurement and related research. For the past 40 years, the ISWS has operated raingage networks over various time periods in both rural and urban areas. An agreement was reached between the IVWA and the ISWS in spring 1992, and a 25-site network was established in late August 1992. This report documents network operation, maintenance, data reduction, and management during the second year of operation (September 1993-August 1994). This report provides data analyses for the year. Several appendices also document actual raingage sites, instructions for raingage technicians, raingage maintenance information, large precipitation amounts recorded during the year, and monthly precipitation variability at each site. Data collected during the somewhat drier 12-month period served as a useful contrast to the record-breaking amounts of precipitation measured during the network's first operational year. The exposure and areal coverage of the network still seem to be adequate to capture the precipitation variability of the region. Because of the relatively dense raingage spacing, the network also is providing high-quality data for research purposes. After data are collected from a third year of network operation, a matrix of correlations of precipitation amounts between raingage sites will be constructed to identify regions of spatial coherency in the precipitation-producing systems traversing the region, allowing further assessment of the spatial variability of the precipitation. Estimates of the probabilities of different storm paths and precipitation patterns in the area also should be possible because these types of statistics become more stable as the sample size of the database increases. These data and statistics, in combination with ground-water information now being collected in the area on a routine basis, should enhance the ability of the IVWA to accurately and efficiently manage the region's underground water resources.

Publisher

Illinois State Water Survey

Series/Report Name or Number

ISWS Contract Report CR 583

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/54947

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

Imperial Valley Water Authority

Copyright and License Information

This document is a product of the Illinois State Water Survey, produced for the Imperial Valley Water Authority. It has been selected and made available by the Illinois State Water Survey and the University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is intended for research and educational use, and proper attribution is requested.

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