NRFA visit to Devon with the Environment Agency

National River Flow Archive (NRFA) staff Steve Turner, Mark Rhodes-Smith, and the NRFA Southwest regional representative, Gayatri Suman carried out a two-day visit to the Devon area on Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th June 2025.  We met officers from the local Environment Agency Hydrology and Telemetry team for a series of visits to gauging stations across the region, visiting sites near Exeter on the first day and then travelling across north and west Devon on the second day.
At each gauging station we discussed the operation and maintenance of the flow gauges, features that might affect the flow record, and checked and amended our metadata holdings based on their advice. These visits help to enhance the information the NRFA provides to the hydrological community. 
On the first day we visited three sites on rivers that drain Dartmoor. First, the Dart at Austin’s Bridge (46003), a National Hydrological Monitoring Programme (NHMP) site featuring a velocity area station especially important for flood warnings. We then visited two sister stations close together, the Bovey at Bovey Parke (46013) and the Teign at Chudleigh (46014). The former station has had its ultrasonic system removed since our last visit and is now a rated section, while the latter is affected by frequent changes to the river channel.  
On our second day we visited sites near Exmoor and the northern edge of Dartmoor. We began with the NHMP site on the Exe at Thorverton (45001) and continued upstream along the Exe to Stoodleigh (45002). We ended the morning on the Taw at Umberleigh (50001), another NHMP site. After lunch we then continued south, visiting Jacobstowe (50011) before finishing our day around Okehampton with stations in Sticklepath (50003) and Vellake (50005). The last station was a particular highlight of our visit, with an extended walk alongside Meldon reservoir to access the site. 
The NRFA aims to conduct between two and three measuring authority liaison visits a year across the UK’s 24 regional hydrometric data providers.
Thank you to the Environment Agency’s Devon Area Hydrometry and Telemetry team who hosted our field visits. It was very good to meet you all, and particularly helpful to better understand the sites in your care.