Tallulah River near Clayton, GA 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 02178400 sits on the Tallulah River and reads everything draining 58 square miles of the Tugaloo basin. Its datum sits 1,869 feet above sea level NGVD29. Daily flow has been on record here since 1964, 62 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 Lake Burton near Clayton, GA at 115 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 51% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Tallulah River at Terrora Pwrhse, near Tallulah Falls,ga and Tallulah River above Powerhouse, near Tallulah Falls,ga.

Normal flows here

The Tallulah River runs a median of 143 cfs at this gauge across 62 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 220 cfs, and September the leanest at 80 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 3,940 cfs in 2004, and the lowest is 26 cfs in 2000.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1964 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The Tallulah River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 20 feet. NWS starts watching it at 5 feet. The highest crest on record is 12 feet, in May 1973.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge TRTG1. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.

TVA dams near this gauge

TVA's Chatuge Dam is 17 miles from this gauge on the Hiwassee system. Planned generation, lake level and tailwater elevation for it load below when TVA has published them.

• Chatuge Dam 17 miles