Doe River at Elizabethton, TN Flow & Water Level

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 03485500 sits on the Doe River and reads everything draining 137 square miles of the Watauga basin. Its datum sits 1,525 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow is on record here from 1912 to 2024, 73 years in all.

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 Watauga River at Elizabethton, TN at 692 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 20% of the water measured there. It then enters Boone Lake, below which releases set the flow.

Normal flows here

The Doe River runs a median of 148 cfs at this gauge across 73 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 301 cfs, and September the leanest at 83 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 5,340 cfs in 1963, and the lowest is 17 cfs in 1925.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1912 to 2024. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median. USGS stopped publishing a daily flow record at this gauge, so these are historical norms, not a baseline for current readings.

Flood stages and record crests

The Doe River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 8 feet. NWS starts watching it at 5 feet. The highest crest on record is 11.1 feet, in September 2024.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge DOET1. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.

TVA dams near this gauge

TVA's Wilbur Dam is 5 miles from this gauge on the Watauga system. Planned generation, lake level and tailwater elevation for it load below when TVA has published them.

• Wilbur Dam 5 miles
• Watauga Dam 5 miles
• South Holston Dam 14 miles
• Boone Dam 14 miles