USGS Water Data

River levels, river flow and flood-stage status

Public USGS river gauge readings and monitoring locations.

Get river level

Get river level

Get 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.

Your information

Location

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

1 credit per run

Example results

Town: St. Louis
State: Missouri
Latitude: 38.629
Longitude: -90.1797777778
Gauge Name: Mississippi River at St. Louis, MO
Observed At: 2026-09-29T00:00:00-05:00
Trend 24 Hours: falling
Gauge Page Link: waterdata.usgs.gov
Flood Stage Feet: 30
Usgs Site Number: 07010000
Above Flood Stage: No
Water Height Feet: 15.24
Flow Cubic Feet Per Second: 262,000

Example data · Run in Studio for fresh results.

About USGS Water Data

USGS Water Data (USGS) returns gauge height, flow, 24-hour trends, and flood-stage status for a river or town and state.

Get river level needs a river and/or town with state.

Built by Fous from waterdata.usgs.gov and checked automatically; it last passed a check on Sep 29, 2026. Fous is not affiliated with USGS Water Data.

Actions

Get river level

1 credit per run

What you provide

Field	Type	Required	Description
Location`location`	Text	Required	River and/or town with state, for example Mississippi River at St. Louis, MO.Example: Mississippi River at St. Louis, MO

What you get

Field	Type	Description
Town`town`	Text	Town near the gauge.Example: St. Louis
State`state`	Text	State name.Example: Missouri
Latitude`latitude`	Number	Gauge latitude.Example: 38.629
Longitude`longitude`	Number	Gauge longitude.Example: -90.1797777777778
Gauge Name`gauge_name`	Text	Official gauge name.Example: Mississippi River at St. Louis, MO
Observed At`observed_at`	Text	Gauge-height observation time in the local time zone, with offset.Example: 2026-09-29T00:00:00-05:00
Trend 24 Hours`trend_24_hours`	Text	Water-height trend over the past 24 hours.Example: Falling
Gauge Page Link`gauge_page_link`	Text	Page showing the gauge.Example: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/07010000/
Flood Stage Feet`flood_stage_feet`	Number	Flood stage in feet, when published.Example: 30
Usgs Site Number`usgs_site_number`	Text	USGS monitoring site number.Example: 07010000
Above Flood Stage`above_flood_stage`	Yes or no	Whether the water height reaches or exceeds flood stage, when known.Example: No
Water Height Feet`water_height_feet`	Number	Most recent gauge height in feet.Example: 15.24
Flow Cubic Feet Per Second`flow_cubic_feet_per_second`	Number	Most recent discharge in cubic feet per second.Example: 262000

Example result

For Location: Mississippi River at St. Louis, MO

JSON

{
  "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
}

For developers

Run this workflow from your own code. In Studio, turn on Developer mode and create an API key.

cURL

# First set your key: export FOUS_API_KEY='YOUR_FOUS_API_KEY'
: "${FOUS_API_KEY:?Set FOUS_API_KEY before running this example}"

curl 'https://api.fous.com/v1/query' \
  --fail-with-body --silent --show-error --max-time 120 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
  "api": "@usgs-water-data",
  "visibility": "public",
  "operation": "get_river_level",
  "version": 1,
  "input": {
    "location": "Mississippi River at St. Louis, MO"
  },
  "response": {
    "format": "json"
  }
}'

What you can do with it

Monitor river heights near towns
Track changes in river flow
Check whether water reaches flood stage
Review 24-hour river-level trends
Find gauge locations and observation times

Questions

Is Fous affiliated with USGS Water Data?

No. Fous is not affiliated with USGS Water Data. This workflow reads the public waterdata.usgs.gov website and returns its data.

How much does it cost?

Each run costs 1 credit. With pay-as-you-go, a credit costs 1¢; monthly plans cost less per credit.

Do I need a USGS Water Data account?

No. You only need a Fous account.

How current is the data?

Fous gets the data from waterdata.usgs.gov when you run it; repeating the same request within a day may return the saved result. Fous checks this workflow automatically; it last passed a check on Sep 29, 2026.