Salt River Project (SRP)'s Flowtography system has helped monitor changes in stream flow, which assists the water supply forecast for the city of Flagstaff and beyond.

“That’s where a new partnership with the Salt River Project and its state-of-the-art SRP Flowtography system comes into play,” Flagstaff City Water Resources Manager Erin Young said. “As part of a contract approved earlier this year by the City Council, SRP will monitor and analyze streamflow as part of the Upper Lake Mary Watershed Monitoring Project for many years.”

As the largest provider of raw water to the Phoenix area, SRP developed the Flowtography system to monitor stream flow with time-lapse cameras and gauges. SRP manages water that falls over 13,000 square miles of the Salt and Verde River watersheds, which is to be used in the Salt River Valley.

“It is significant that the city and SRP are collaborating to measure the Upper Lake Mary watershed," Brad Hill, Flagstaff utilities director, said. “SRP has been a leader in this type of hydrologic monitoring across northern Arizona for over a century. By partnering with SRP, we’re demonstrating our commitment and long-term stewardship of the watershed to the benefit of all Flagstaff water customers.”

Flagstaff is working with SRP; SRP provides equipment, servicing and image processing for the photos gathered from the Flagstaff portion of the project. Much of the collected information will be available to the public.

Nearly 600 images have been collected every day since the start of the program from locations across the Upper Lake Mary watershed.