Big Creek at Big Creek Rd near Saluda, SC Water Level Today

NWS river forecast

Forecast from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service. Issued a few times a day and only while a forecast is active. Not for navigation.

Last 30 days

About this gauge

USGS gauge 021677090 sits on Big Creek and reads everything draining 48 square miles of the Saluda basin. Its datum sits 300 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 2022, 4 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

No gauged site sits above this one on the mainstem, so this is the first published reading on the river. Downstream the next reading comes from Saluda River below Lake Murray Dam near Columbia, SC at 2,420 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 2% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Saluda River near Columbia, SC and Congaree River at Columbia, SC.

Normal flows here

Big Creek runs a median of 1.6 cfs at this gauge across 4 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 12 cfs, and October the leanest at 0.2 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 1,320 cfs in 2025, and the lowest is 0.0 cfs in 2024.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 2022 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The highest crest on record is 77 feet, in June 2023.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge BCCS1. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.