Saluda River near Columbia, 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 02169000 sits on the Saluda River and reads everything draining 2,520 square miles of the Saluda basin. Its datum sits 149 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1925, 101 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

One gauged site sits upstream of here. The closest is Saluda River below Lake Murray Dam near Columbia, SC, reading 2,420 square miles. This gauge adds the 100 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Congaree River at Columbia, SC at 7,850 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 32% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Congaree River at Congaree Np near Gadsden, SC.

Normal flows here

The Saluda River runs a median of 1,650 cfs at this gauge across 101 years of record. January is the fullest month at a median 2,040 cfs, and May the leanest at 1,280 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 62,300 cfs in 1930, and the lowest is 12 cfs in 1930.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1925 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 15.2 feet, in October 1929.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge SLUS1. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.