Mechanical Current Meter System versus Other Point Velocity Discharge Systems

With the increase of Acoustic Doppler, ADV, ADCP point velocity discharge systems, it seems like the days of using mechanical meters for taking stream flow measurements are on their way out. THINK AGAIN. I have always questioned this and where do we stand nowadays regarding this. It looks like the future is looking more to mechanical than electronic equipment because our budgets are more limited and we want to get more bang for our buck. The attached articles are from a government resource, USGS, and have done extensive research to verify the comparison. Take a look, your budgeting department will thank you........

Click to View USGS Research Document