# River Water Level Tracker — USGS Real-Time Gauge Data (`m_ctim/river-water-level-tracker`) Actor

Get real-time river/stream gauge height and streamflow readings from official USGS monitoring stations, by state or specific site numbers. Sorted highest-first for fast high-water spotting.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/m\_ctim/river-water-level-tracker.md
- **Developed by:** [Timothy Kelvin](https://apify.com/m_ctim) (community)
- **Categories:** Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 20.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## River Water Level Tracker — USGS Real-Time Gauge Data

Get real-time river and stream gauge readings from official USGS
monitoring stations, by state or by specific site numbers. Results are
sorted highest-reading-first, so the sites closest to flood/high-water
risk surface at the top without needing a separate flood-stage lookup.

Built for field-operations, logistics, agriculture, and insurance teams
who need current water-level conditions, not a forecast.

### Input

```json
{
  "stateCode": "CO",
  "siteNumbers": "",
  "parameter": "gaugeHeight",
  "minValue": null,
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `stateCode` | string | Two-letter US state code to survey all active sites in. Ignored if `siteNumbers` is set. |
| `siteNumbers` | string (optional) | Comma-separated USGS site numbers to check instead of a whole state, e.g. `"07227420,09404200"`. |
| `parameter` | string | `"gaugeHeight"` (water surface elevation, feet) or `"streamflow"` (discharge, cubic feet per second). Default `"gaugeHeight"`. |
| `minValue` | number (optional) | Only return sites at or above this reading. Leave blank to return all sites. |
| `maxResults` | number | Max sites to return, highest reading first. Default `50`, max `200`. |

Either `stateCode` or `siteNumbers` is required.

### Output

One record per monitoring site:

```json
{
  "siteNumber": "07227420",
  "siteName": "ARKANSAS RIVER AT HOLLY, CO.",
  "latitude": 38.0522,
  "longitude": -102.1213,
  "parameter": "Gage height, ft",
  "unit": "ft",
  "value": 12.43,
  "dateTime": "2026-08-13T19:45:00.000-06:00"
}
```

A search with no matching sites returns no items but is still billed
once for the search.

### How it works

Direct calls to the official [USGS Water Services
API](https://waterservices.usgs.gov/) (`waterservices.usgs.gov`) —
no proxy, no key, no scraping. Public U.S. government data, updated
in near real-time by USGS monitoring equipment (typically every 15–60
minutes per site).

**Note:** this actor returns the raw reading, not an official flood
classification — USGS gauge data isn't paired with NWS flood-stage
thresholds in this feed. Use `minValue` with a threshold you already
know for a site (or sort by the default highest-first order) to spot
high-water conditions.

### Pricing note

Billed per **search**, not per site returned — one charge whether the
search returns 0 sites or 200.

### Related products

- [US Weather Forecast & Alerts Tracker](https://github.com/timmKal01/us-weather-tracker) — forecasts and active NWS alerts, the atmospheric-conditions counterpart to this actor's water-level data
- [Disaster Declaration Tracker](https://github.com/timmKal01/disaster-declaration-tracker) — official FEMA disaster declarations, for after a flood is already declared

# Actor input Schema

## `stateCode` (type: `string`):

Two-letter US state code to survey all active monitoring sites in, e.g. "CO". Ignored if "siteNumbers" is set.

## `siteNumbers` (type: `string`):

Comma-separated USGS site numbers to check instead of a whole state, e.g. "07227420,09404200". Takes priority over "stateCode" if both are set.

## `parameter` (type: `string`):

Which reading to fetch. Gauge height is water surface elevation (best for flood/high-water risk); streamflow (discharge) is volume of water passing the site per second.

## `minValue` (type: `number`):

Only return sites whose latest reading is at or above this value. Leave blank to return all sites, highest reading first.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of sites to return, highest reading first.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "stateCode": "CO",
  "parameter": "gaugeHeight",
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "stateCode": "CO"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("m_ctim/river-water-level-tracker").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "stateCode": "CO" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("m_ctim/river-water-level-tracker").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "stateCode": "CO"
}' |
apify call m_ctim/river-water-level-tracker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,m_ctim/river-water-level-tracker"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/lmdDz2lfFmhjyFbSJ/builds/lv6h1XiZ2pfbsH80O/openapi.json