River gauge - viewable on the internet

Happy New Year everyone - it's 2013

Been poking around a website --  http://www.paddling.net
and a discussion doing an internet river gauge on the cheap.

Here is the discussion in full :

""We have the gauge painted on the bridge, and this is the ages-old reference
for paddling this section of the river. What we need, is a way to read the gauge
without having to go all the way to the put-in.

Solar powered webcams are available. These could be wirelessly connected
to a router, if one were close enough, a remote possibility.
More likely, we'd need to use a cell-phone. There is cell service in that area.
I think streaming video over a cell phone would work, but I'm also wary of what
the data charges would be. Of course, we don't need streaming video.
One picture a day would be vastly better than what we have now.
Four pictures a day would be fabulous. The pictures could be uploaded to our
club web site, and we'd have an excellent reference to let us know the river level.

All the technology exists at costs a club could afford. What I don't see readily
available is the combination of solar collector, battery, camera, cell phone,
housing, and software/controller to make it all work.
I feel capable of putting together all but the latter.

At this point, I want to float the idea by my club, to see if the club would
consider funding it, and Maryland DNR, since the remote sending unit
would need to be installed on park property. If those two entities don't
go along with the idea, there is no use in delving further into the problem.

Additionally, several site problems will need to be addressed,
like how to keep the devices from being wiped out in floods, stolen, or vandalized.


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USGS gauges monitored and maintained by the USGS are expensive.
In fact the USGS is looking at reducing their numbers each due due to cost.

Perhaps hobby tinker type folk  could whip up something effective