Gauge Description:

Call 888-356-3663 for release information from the Number 2 dam.

There are two gauges that measure flow on this stretch of the Deerfield. The first gauge is maintained by TransCanada, the power company that owns the No. 2 station facility. This gauge is part of the Waterline network, and provides flows below the dam in near real time. The website which provides readings for this gage also provides a forecast for possible future water releases. [www.h2oline.com]

The second gauge is located near the end of this reach of river and is maintained by the United States Geologic Survey in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. This gauge provides readings at 15 minute intervals and also records the levels and maintains a database of flow readings through time. There is generally a 45 to 60 minute lag between the recording of the flow information and when the information becomes available on the USGS web site. [waterdata.usgs.gov]

Releases from the No. 2 station seem to take about 2 to 3 hours to travel the five miles downstream to register at the USGS gauge. An accounting of data from both gauges in the summer of 2008 indicates that there is approximately a 40% difference in the flow readings (in cubic feet per second) between the gauges, with either the No. 2 station gauge reading 40% high, or the USGS gauge reading 40% low.