NORWICH – A year after record-breaking floods caused damage to areas throughout the county, the City of Norwich is taking steps to make sure they are fully informed of the potential for future flooding.

According to City of Norwich Emergency Management Officer A. Wesley Jones the city recently applied for a grant that would allow them to add stream gauges to locations in and around Norwich. “On Friday, I was notified we were successful in receiving a grant for $24,292.65 to be used for steam gauges we will operate in the Norwich area,” Jones said.

The grant, as part of the Automated Flood Warming System Program administered through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will allow the city to purchase three stream gauges that will work in conjunction with the two rain gauges currently in operation in Chenango County.

“The stream gauges will probably be bridge mounted. They will measure the water level, and the results will be sent by radio back to the emergency control center, where they will be sent to the National Weather Service,” Jones explained. Recommendations by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission received earlier in the year have also given the City of Norwich good odds for receiving an automated river gauge for the Chenango River. Senator Thomas Libous is expected to make an announcement about the river gauge on Tuesday.