Kayakers and rafters: Menlo’s USGS will text you a water alert

Now you can receive instant, customized updates about water conditions by subscribing to WaterAlert, a new service from the Menlo’s own U.S. Geological Survey. Whether you are watching for floods (San Francisquito Creek has overflowed and did so in unincorporated areas of Menlo Park in 1998), interested in recreational activities, or concerned about the quality of water in your well (any wells left in Menlo?), WaterAlert allows you to receive daily or hourly updates about current conditions in rivers, lakes and groundwater when they match conditions of concern to you.

In all practicality, the new service may be of most interest to Menlo residents who enjoy kayaking, rafting and boating as it lets enthusiasts know when conditions are optimal or hazardous. To  start, go to WaterAlert , select a specific site and the preferred delivery method (email or text), whether your want hourly or daily notifications, which data parameter you’re  interested in, and the threshold for those parameters. For example, recreational rafters may find it useful to set a threshold that lets them know when the water levels are high enough to pass over rocks but not so high as to be unsafe