Saluda River at Chappells, 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 02167000 sits on the Saluda River and reads everything draining 1,360 square miles of the Saluda basin. Its datum sits 362 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1927, 100 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

Lake Greenwood near Chappells, SC sits immediately upstream, so dam releases rather than rainfall set the flow here. Two gauged sites sit upstream of here. The closest is Lake Greenwood near Chappells, SC, reading 1,170 square miles. This gauge adds the 190 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Lake Murray near Columbia, SC at 2,420 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 56% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

The Saluda River runs a median of 1,245 cfs at this gauge across 100 years of record. February is the fullest month at a median 2,060 cfs, and October the leanest at 811 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 56,700 cfs in 1930, and the lowest is 7.8 cfs in 2020.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1927 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The Saluda River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 14 feet. NWS starts watching it at 13 feet. The highest crest on record is 36.7 feet, in August 1908.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge CHAS1. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.