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USGS API: Get river level

Gets the latest water height, flow, 24-hour trend and flood-stage status at the active USGS river gauge best matching a river or town and state. Flood stage is null when not published; gauges without recent stage, flow or 24-hour history are not returned.

waterdata.usgs.gov (opens in a new tab)Version 1ReadNo sign-inVerified Nov 2, 2026

Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by USGS.

Inputs

Values from the run on Oct 31, 2026, shown under Output.

Location, requiredlocation

River and/or town with state, for example Mississippi River at St. Louis, MO.

Mississippi River at St. Louis, MO

Output

From a run on Oct 31, 2026.
{  "town": "St. Louis",  "state": "Missouri",  "latitude": 38.629,  "longitude": -90.1797777777778,  "gauge_name": "Mississippi River at St. Louis, MO",  "observed_at": "2026-09-29T00:00:00-05:00",  "trend_24_hours": "falling",  "gauge_page_link": "https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/07010000/",  "flood_stage_feet": 30,  "usgs_site_number": "07010000",  "above_flood_stage": false,  "water_height_feet": 15.24,  "flow_cubic_feet_per_second": 262000}
Price
1 credit per completed run (1¢ with pay as you go); failed runs are free.
Method
waterdata.usgs.gov/get_river_level
Returns
gauge name, town, state, water height, flow, observation time, 24-hour trend, flood stage, gauge link, site number, coordinates

Use it from your agent

Give your agent this line. It reads SKILL.md, gets a Fous API key and connects the Fous MCP server. Its run then takes the method waterdata.usgs.gov/get_river_level with the inputs above.

Ask your agent

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