Real-Time Water Level Dashboard
We’ve installed water level monitors in three locations in the Little Falls watershed in Bethesda MD - two on the Little Falls Branch and one on the Willett Branch.
Numbers are relative to a bridge mounted sensor. As the numbers decrease, the creek rises.
You can change the date to display different ranges.
Sensor Locations
Little Falls Branch sites:
Pool site (LFWA103): Located under the bridge leading to the Little Falls Pool at 5205 Little Falls Drive, Bethesda, MD. The Little Falls Branch is concrete-lined at this spot.
Pedestrian bridge site (LFWA101): Located under the pedestrian bridge in the Little Falls Stream Valley Park one-third a mile downstream from the Park entrance at Massachusetts Avenue. Little Falls Branch is a natural creek at this spot.
Willett Branch Site:
Willett Branch Bridge (LFWA102): Located at the intersection of Willett Bridge Road and Little Falls Parkway on the underside of the bridge over the creek. The Willett Branch is concrete-lined at this spot.
These monitors allow us to track the rise and fall of the creek and record when there is flooding. They are mounted on the undersides of bridges and work from above to detect the change in height of the water in the creek. These monitors do not record the depth of the creek, rather the change in water level relative to the sensor. Smaller numbers mean that the water is closer to the bridge and has risen. The bridges are all different heights, so each sensor reports levels relative to the bridge height. The numbers cannot be compared. Only the change in water level.
Water level sensor mounted to the underside of the bridge at Willett Bridge Road.
Water Level Detection Method
ROBOT GRANT
The water level sensors are on of the tasks in our project to develop autonomous water quality monitoring robots. Learn more about the project HERE.
The water level monitoring project is made possible by a grant funded by the Montgomery County Water Quality Protection Fund.