Two state agencies, the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), collaborated with the University of Delaware and the Delaware Geological Survey (DGS) and found an answer in the Delaware Environmental Observing System (DEOS). DEOS was created in 2003 as a real-time, regional monitoring system that provides data on weather conditions, water levels, snow depth, and various other environmental factors obtained from automated weather stations in and around the state.