This week our team installed a “gaging station” on the Ruvyironza River, just downstream of our planned hydroelectric plant in Gitega Province. This station will be monitored twice a day, with the river levels recorded by one of the neighbors of our site. The gaging station will allow us to monitor the river flow over the coming months and years, which is a critical factor in determining the power output of our hydroelectric plant.
The gaging station was constructed in the river by placing two “giant rulers” in the river – one just above the other. The rulers are mounted in strong cement bases so that they will not shift or move as the river rises and flows around them. The data obtained from this station will be correlated to historical data from another station about 20km downstream of our site on the Ruvyironza River, allowing us to estimate the historical flows at this exact point – and then predicting flows over the coming years and decades.