An Acoustic Velocity Measurement System for Aiding Barge Traffic in the Colorado River Locks near Matagorda, Texas

In July 1999, the U.S. Geological Survey installed an acoustic Doppler velocity meter in the Colorado River, near the city of Matagorda in southeast Texas. The meter is part of an integrated system used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to control barge traffic that passes through a lock system located at the confluence of the Colorado River and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The meter was installed on the river bottom as part of a system developed and used by the National Weather Service. The upward-looking meter measures the average velocity in the top 3 meters (10 feet) of the water column. These river-velocity data are used in conjunction with additional velocity and water-stage data, from proximal sites, by the barge operators to assess conditions at the Colorado River crossing and for lock operations.