For those of you that have a stream on your property, like to fish, paddle, or use for trapping...do you ever have any sort of gauge type stick that you keep in the h20 to help you know the water levels? I have a stream on each of my 3 properties & have occasionaly thought it might be interesting to be able to look at a gauge.

I assume you know but the USGS website has gages on most rivers in the US. Multiple ones on some larger rivers.

They watch a gage height and flow in cubic feet per second.

The flow is a better indicator of the water conditions in the river. The Gage height is a cruder measurement.

I watch the website in spring and fall when I do all my fishing. I know at what flows its not worth going and what areas are fishable and not all upon the flow.

One thing to note is that depending upon surrounding topography and stream channel/bank a rise in height in one area will not be the same in all areas.

I just retired from over 35 years with USGS. The discharge, flow is directly derived from the gage height readings. The reason it looks cruder is that the gage height records in hundredths of a foot and it sometimes looks like it jumps around. It does especially on events. The rating discharge may not change significantly with what shows as a .01 gage height change. Lots of different equipment used across the country on the individual gages. You could install a staff plate that is marked in hundredths of a foot. They come in roughly three foot sections. Those of you not using the USGS gage network are missing some valuable outdoor related information that is free.

^ I use their site a lot in the spring and fall. A very good way to see what is happening with water levels and is very important to me because of where I live.

I just looked at the site for the first time- a lot of good information and detail. It appeared that there was only one major river system in the county that I was looking into that was documented- Is there more granularity for all navigable waterways or typically limited by county? I didn't see any stream data?

It’s all based on who wants the information and pays USGS to maintain the site. Try looking upstream Of where you’re interested and you can see what’s coming and the trend of flow. Trappers can use it on a lot of streams to determine if they can float it or have to drag a lot. Also many steams a couple foot rise takes away about all your good setting root wads and low water travel ways. Instead of looking at counties look at the statewide table. A lot of lakes are monitored as well. If you look back you can see what the stage was on a river or lake the day you were on it, within four months, and remember how the bottoms and banks were for future reference.

You can also go to National Weather Service at www.weather.gov and find stream levels for your state. Have a lot of gages and flow charts for rivers and lakes.

what water,thinkin of changin our name to Sahara PA.

Yes the NWS uses all our gages for their site. One thing they do is make peak predictions where USGS does not. They extrapolate our gage readings for their peaks.

good to know, thanks for the info.

From what you posted then am I to understand that the flow is "calculated" from the gage height? If so then the flow numbers are an approx. number.

I use the site for fishing. I do all wade fishing so the flow is important. I watch the flow number not the gage height. I know what areas can be fished below what flow levels.

Its a great site. After a rain I can check the flow and know if its worth going fishing or not without leaving the house.

No there is a discharge rating developed at every site that publishes discharge. These are obtained and maintained by series of streamflow measurements at different gage heights through the year.We know how much flow is there as it changes each hundredth of a foot. This can change though from time to time. Smaller streams shift around more than rivers. Something that might raise the pool level where the gage is by getting say debris or leaves on the riffle below it makes the gage report too much discharge. That’s why they are measured every few weeks to keep this stage/discharge relation as accurate as possible. We apply what’s called a temporary shift. Say, if there was a beaver dam built below the gage. The pool level would rise but there’s a much lesser amount of true flow than the stage sensor in the gage thinks.

There is talk of being able to measure flow from satellites and we use radars on the bridges now. Got too high tech for me so I tapped out.

I've always wondered about the flow/height measurements changing. On the river I fish the gage is in a rather shallower area, fairly wide. There are areas that have gravel bars that cross the river and make a dam of sorts.
After spring thaws they sometimes disappear or move down stream.

Wade fishing is a great way to get to know a river. They are constantly changing. Trees falling into the river and changing the flow, gravel bars moving, whole trees fall into the river and get washed downstream. Mucky inside corners disappear after heavy spring flows.

Good fishing spots are always disappearing and new ones being made.

The river I fish isn't too big, flow is about 200-250cfm, Ive seen it as low as 90 and as high as 6000. at 1000 and above I stay home.

Got a concrete culvert next to the house. Painted 1,2,3 foot line up the side of culvert. Just like pcr I'm dry as a bone. Ditch has no water running. When we do get heavy rains it's interesting to see how high the water gets but even better to see how fast it drops

It’s actually cubic feet per second. That 200 cfs was about 1500 gallons per second. I’ve measured about a million every two seconds at Cumberland Falls here in SE Kentucky. Many of you have probably been there. It’s near where I live, When you start multiplying cfs times roughly 7.5 gallons it’s incredible how many gallons flow every day in even a small stream.

2 rivers meet on my property coming from opposite directions.really neat to watch when one muds up and one isn't.

As part of a watershed management for a priority watershed I was part of a survey team for 5 years. By luck the river is one I trap about 3-5 miles of. We set up gauging markers at several spots, there were two in the area I frequent. We pounded in steel stakes and slid a pvc pipe over the top. We had that marked in inches and feet so it was easy to read. Those have been removed but I have two smaller but similar marking system that I review at times so I can tell how high the water has been and is. I know the depth at which I am not able to wade the river. I also like to know how many times and how high over the banks the water has been as that impacts rat numbers for me if I know when they flooded and for how long. It also helps me roughly know how many of the overhanging banks or shelves will be in play or flooded. The last 3 springs and early summers the river has been at bank level or over more than within the bank. They are coming down right at my place, but a few miles away they had 4 inches while we got .25 inches.

Bryce