Wheeler Creek at Bill Cheek Road, near Auburn, 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 02217274 sits on Wheeler Creek and reads everything draining 1.3 square miles of the Upper Oconee basin. Its datum sits 884 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 2001, 24 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 Mulberry Creek near Winder, GA at 109 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 1% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Middle Oconee River near Arcade, GA and Middle Oconee River near Athens, GA.

Normal flows here

Wheeler Creek runs a median of 1.2 cfs at this gauge across 24 years of record. February is the fullest month at a median 2.0 cfs, and September the leanest at 0.6 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 125 cfs in 2016, and the lowest is 0.0 cfs in 2008.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 2001 to 2025. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

Wheeler Creek reaches flood stage at this gauge at 6 feet. NWS starts watching it at 4.5 feet. The highest crest on record is 7.2 feet, in September 2002.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge WLRG1. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.

Dams near this gauge

The Army Corps' Buford Dam is 14 miles from this gauge. The Corps publishes no release schedule for this project; its last observed release and elevations load below.

• Buford Dam 14 miles