USGS Streamgages By the Numbers
Science Center Objects
Get the facts and figures about the USGS Streamgaging Network, one of the largest streamgaging enterprises in the world!
USGS gage 05014500 Swiftcurrent Creek at Many Glacier, Glacier National Park, MT (Credit: Don Bischoff, USGS)
All numbers below are for the 2017 Water Year.
Streamflow and Water-Level Gages
(operated year-round or seasonally)
10,330 gages
- 8,580 monitored streamflow and water level
- 1,750 monitored water level
80,000 measurements made by hydrographers
Key Networks
Gage house for the streamgage on the Souris River above Minot, North Dakota. (Credit: Brent R. Hanson, USGS)
National Streamflow Network (NSN)
(monitored streamflow year-round and met a variety of local, State, and Federal needs)
8,230 gages
- 5,030 had more than 30 years of record
- 330 had more than 100 years of record
Federal Priority Streamgages (FPS) Network
(met Federal priority information needs)
3,640 gages
- 3,200 monitored streamflow year-round
(included in the National Streamflow Network) - 440 monitored water level or operated seasonally
- 1,120 eligible locations lacked funding
USGS streamgage 12355342 Hallowat Creek abv Kletomus Ck, nr Olney, MT (Credit: Seth Davidson, USGS)
Funding
$188 million
- $55 million from Federal appropriation
- $133 million from 1,410 partners
Water Data Delivery
640 million requests made for streamflow info
- 98 percent fulfilled through web services
USGS Streamgaging Network
The USGS Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program supports the collection and (or) delivery of both streamflow and water-level information for more than 8,500 sites and water-level information alone for more than 1,700 additional sites. The data are served online—most in near realtime—to meet many diverse needs.
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Date published: March 4, 2019Status: ActiveRapid Deployment Gages (RDGs)
Rapid Deployment Gages (RDGs) are fully-functional streamgages designed to be deployed quickly and temporarily to measure and transmit stream stage data in emergency situations.
Attribution: Water Resources, Floods and Droughts -
Date published: March 3, 2019Status: ActiveStreamgaging Basics
A streamgage is a structure installed beside a stream or river that contains equipment that measures and records the water level (called gage height or stage) of the stream. Streamflow (also called discharge) is computed from measured water levels using a site-specific relation (called a stage-discharge rating curve) developed from onsite water level and streamflow measurements made by USGS...
Attribution: Water Resources -
Date published: March 3, 2019Status: ActiveFederal Priority Streamgages (FPS)
Federal Priority Streamgages (FPS) are monitoring stations that track the amount of water in streams and rivers across the Nation and that meet one or more strategic, long-term Federal information needs. FPS are strategically positioned across the Nation to serve, in part, as a “backbone” for the larger USGS streamgaging network that is operated by the USGS in cooperation with over 1,400...
Contacts: Mark N Landers, Chad R Wagner -
Date published: September 28, 2016Surge, Wave, and Tide Hydrologic (SWaTH) Network in Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia
Many U.S. Geological Survey Water Science Centers have responsibilities for coastal regions within their mission areas. The integrated Surge, Wave, and Tide Hydrologic (SWaTH) Network has been developed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy to support model development and verification for coastal regions, detection of hydrologic trends, and early warning of hydrologic hazards in the northeast from...
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Year Published: 2019Monitoring the pulse of our Nation's rivers and streams—The U.S. Geological Survey streamgaging network
In the late 1800s, John Wesley Powell, second Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), proposed gaging the flow of rivers and streams in the Western United States to evaluate the potential for irrigation. Around the same time, several cities in the Eastern United States established primitive streamgages to help design water-supply systems....
Eberts, Sandra M.; Woodside, Michael D.; Landers, Mark N.; Wagner, Chad R.View CitationEberts, S.M., Woodside, M.D., Landers, M.N., and Wagner, C.R., 2018, Monitoring the pulse of our Nation's rivers and streams—The U.S. Geological Survey streamgaging network: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2018–3081, 2 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20183081.
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Date published: August 18, 2020WaterWatch (surface water)
WaterWatch displays maps, graphs, and tables describing real-time, recent, and past streamflow conditions for the United States, including flood and droughts. Real-time information generally is updated on an hourly basis.
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Date published: August 18, 2020WaterNow
The USGS WaterNow service lets users receive current conditions for USGS water-data-collection stations on demand via email or cell-phone text message. The user sends an email or text message containing a USGS current-conditions gaging site number, and will quickly receive a reply with the station's most recent data for one or more of its monitored parameters.
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Date published: August 18, 2020WaterAlert
The U.S. Geological Survey WaterAlert service sends e-mail or text (SMS) messages when certain parameters, as measured by a USGS real-time data-collection station, exceed user-definable thresholds. The development and maintenance of the WaterAlert system is supported by the USGS and its partners, including numerous federal, state, and local agencies.
Attribution: Water Resources, Region 3: Great Lakes, Kansas Water Science Center, New Jersey Water Science Center, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center, Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility (HIF), National Water Quality Laboratory -
Date published: August 18, 2020NWIS Current Water Data (Real-Time Data)
The USGS provides real-time or near-real-time conditions water data at sites across the Nation. Current data typically are recorded at 15- to 60-minute intervals, stored onsite, and then transmitted to USGS offices every 1 to 4 hours, depending on the data relay technique used. Recording and transmission times may be more frequent during critical events.
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Date published: March 4, 2019Water Data for the Nation (NWIS): Automated Retrievals
How to obtain USGS water data via automated retrievals
Attribution: Water Resources, Upper Midwest Water Science Center -
Date published: March 4, 2019USGS Water Web Services
This site serves USGS water data (streamflow, groundwater, water quality, site information, and statistics) via automated means using web services and extensible markup language (XML), as well as other popular media types. Services are invoked with the REST protocol. These services designed for high fault tolerance and very high availability.
Attribution: Water Resources, Upper Midwest Water Science Center
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Date published: October 24, 2019Federal Priority Streamgages (FPS)
This mapper identifies USGS Federal Priority Streamgages (FPS). FPS are monitoring stations that track the amount of water in streams and rivers across the Nation to meet long-term federal information needs. They are strategically positioned to serve as a backbone for the larger National Streamflow Network that is operated in cooperation with over 1,200 federal, state, tribal, and local agencies.
Attribution: Water Resources, Upper Midwest Water Science Center -
Date published: March 5, 2019Endangered, Discontinued, and Rescued Stations
This mapper identifies USGS streamgages that are in danger of being discontinued or converted to a reduced level of service due to lack of funding, gages that already have been discontinued, and gages that have been ‘rescued’ by a new funding source.
Attribution: Water Resources, Upper Midwest Water Science Center
U.S. River Conditions for Water Year 2018
This is an animation showing the changing conditions of USGS streamgages for Water Year 2018 (October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018). The conditions shown range from the driest condition seen at a gage to the wettest. There is also an indicator for gages that are flooding, but it is noted that both USGS gage height and National Weather Service flood stage levels are