Commissioners approve USGS flood gauge at Quaker Neck Landing to improve early-warning capacity

Pete Landen, director of the Office of Emergency Services, described the long-standing need for improved real-time monitoring of the Chester River and asked commissioners to approve a USGS-installed tidal/streamflow gauge at Quaker Neck Landing. Landen said the site would provide predictive real-time trends and could give the county "45 minutes to an hour" of better lead time ahead of serious flooding at locations upriver, and emphasized that the gauge would inform planning and sandbagging decisions.

Landen told the board that "USGS has agreed to install that at no cost to the county and maintaining it as well," and commissioners voted to approve partnering with the U.S. Geological Survey to install the gauge on the Kent County public landing pier at Quaker Neck. Commissioners and staff said the instrument will feed predictive data to emergency services and help coordinate departmental responses to tidal flooding.