Smith Branch at North Main St at 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 02162093 sits on Smith Branch and reads everything draining 5.7 square miles of the Lower Broad basin. Its datum sits 199 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1977, 47 years of it.

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 Congaree River at Columbia, SC at 7,850 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 0% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Congaree River at Congaree Np near Gadsden, SC.

Normal flows here

Smith Branch runs a median of 3.1 cfs at this gauge across 47 years of record. February is the fullest month at a median 5.0 cfs, and October the leanest at 2.5 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 1,710 cfs in 2016, and the lowest is 0.7 cfs in 1986.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1977 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

Smith Branch reaches flood stage at this gauge at 9 feet. NWS starts watching it at 8.5 feet. The highest crest on record is 18.9 feet, in October 2015.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge SMHS1. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.