James River at Blue Ridge Pkwy near Big Island, VA 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 02024752 sits on the James River and reads everything draining 3,076 square miles of the Middle James-Buffalo basin. Its datum sits 600 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 2006, 21 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

Two gauged sites sit upstream of here. The closest is James River at Bedford Dam near Major, VA, reading 3,070 square miles. Downstream the next reading comes from James River at Holcomb Rock, VA at 3,256 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 94% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to James River at Bent Creek, VA. It then enters Resuens Reservoir near Lynchburg, VA, below which releases set the flow.

Normal flows here

The James River runs a median of 2,030 cfs at this gauge across 21 years of record. April is the fullest month at a median 4,185 cfs, and September the leanest at 806 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 52,500 cfs in 2025, and the lowest is 465 cfs in 2026.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 2006 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.