In partnership with Whatcom County Public Works, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) installed two new gaging stations this fall and made upgrades to a third. These new stations will allow the county and others to better monitor rising water levels if the Nooksack River overtops its north bank at Everson again this winter.

• A new gaging station on the Sumas River at N. Telegraph Road will measure streamflow so the contribution of Sumas River to flooding in the city of Sumas can be better understood. 

• A new station with a webcam on Emerson Road south of Everson will help measure how much Nooksack River overflow is headed into the corridor toward Sumas. 

• A webcam was also installed on the existing gaging station on Main Street in the overflow corridor between Everson and Nooksack.  

The USGS posts real-time data from these gaging stations. The new webcams will allow the county to monitor conditions continuously without diverting personnel during a flood response and provide community members with the same real-time information during flood events. 

Please note that the Emerson Road and Main Street gages only register flow depth once water is overtopping the north bank of the Nooksack and has crossed the fields and reached each gage location. When there’s no flow, the gage height chart doesn’t display properly and will look like this: