Little River near Maryville, 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 03498500 sits on the Little River and reads everything draining 269 square miles of the Watts Bar Lake basin. Its datum sits 850 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1951, 75 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

One gauged site sits upstream of here. The closest is Little River above Townsend, TN, reading 106 square miles. This gauge adds the 163 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Little River near Alcoa, TN at 300 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 90% of the water measured there. It then enters Fort Loudoun Lake, below which releases set the flow.

Normal flows here

The Little River runs a median of 290 cfs at this gauge across 75 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 669 cfs, and October the leanest at 130 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 23,100 cfs in 1994, and the lowest is 30 cfs in 2008.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1951 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The Little River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 18 feet. NWS starts watching it at 15 feet. The highest crest on record is 31 feet, in February 1875.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge MYVT1. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.

TVA dams near this gauge

TVA's Fort Loudoun Dam is 20 miles from this gauge on the Tennessee system. Planned generation, lake level and tailwater elevation for it load below when TVA has published them.

• Fort Loudoun Dam 20 miles
• Tellico Dam 21 miles
• Douglas Dam 23 miles
• Fontana Dam 24 miles