Bureau of Reclamation Water Data Scraper

Extract water resource data from the Bureau of Reclamation RISE (Reclamation Information Sharing Environment) API. Download daily reservoir levels, dam operations, water storage volumes, streamflow measurements, and more for every major western US dam and reservoir. Browse and search the full USBR catalog of 7,700+ datasets spanning decades of hydrological records. No authentication or API key required.

Key Features

• Time Series Data -- Download daily measurements for any catalog item: reservoir storage (acre-feet), water elevation (feet), release volumes (cfs), inflow, evaporation, and more
• Catalog Search -- Browse or search the full USBR dataset catalog by keyword to discover available data for specific dams, reservoirs, rivers, or parameters
• Complete Location Metadata -- Every record includes facility name, state, GPS coordinates, Reclamation region, facility type, timezone, and measurement units
• Historical Coverage -- Many datasets go back to the 1930s-1960s, providing decades of continuous daily observations
• Zero Authentication -- The RISE API is fully public. No API keys, tokens, or credentials needed

Data Fields

Time Series Output

Field	Description	Example
itemId	USBR catalog item identifier	509
locationName	Dam or reservoir name	Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam and Powerplant
state	US state abbreviation	AZ
latitude	GPS latitude (WGS84)	37.05778
longitude	GPS longitude (WGS84)	-111.30332
reclamationRegion	Bureau of Reclamation region code	UC (Upper Colorado)
facilityType	Type of facility	Lake/Reservoir, Dam, Diversion
parameterName	What is being measured	Lake/Reservoir Storage
units	Measurement units	af (acre-feet), cfs, ft
timestep	Measurement frequency	daily, monthly
dateTime	Observation timestamp (UTC)	2024-01-01 07:00:00
value	Measured value as a number	8429440
resultType	Observed vs modeled	observed

Catalog Output

Field	Description	Example
itemId	Catalog item ID (use with timeseries mode)	6124
name	Dataset title	Lake Mead Daily Storage-af Time Series Data
locationName	Facility name	Lake Mead Hoover Dam and Powerplant
state	State(s)	AZ, NV
parameterName	Measurement parameter	Lake/Reservoir Storage
units	Units of measurement	af
timestep	Data frequency	daily
temporalStart	Earliest available data	1934-04-01
temporalEnd	Most recent data	2026-03-16

How to Scrape Bureau of Reclamation Water Data

Step 1: Download Time Series by Item ID

If you already know the catalog item ID, set the following input:

{
    "dataType": "timeseries",
    "itemId": 509,
    "startDate": "2024-01-01",
    "endDate": "2024-12-31",
    "maxResults": 500
}

This downloads daily Lake Powell storage data for all of 2024. Common item IDs include:

• 509 -- Lake Powell reservoir storage (acre-feet)
• 6124 -- Lake Mead reservoir storage (acre-feet)
• 513 -- Lake Powell water elevation (feet)
• 6127 -- Lake Mead water elevation (feet)

Step 2: Search the Catalog

If you need to find the right dataset, use catalog mode:

{
    "dataType": "catalog",
    "searchQuery": "Hoover Dam",
    "maxResults": 20
}

This returns all datasets mentioning "Hoover Dam" with their item IDs, parameters, units, and date ranges. Use the itemId from the results to download time series data.

Step 3: Search and Download in One Step

Provide a search query in timeseries mode without an item ID, and the actor automatically finds and downloads data for the first matching dataset:

{
    "dataType": "timeseries",
    "searchQuery": "Lake Powell",
    "startDate": "2024-06-01",
    "endDate": "2024-06-30",
    "maxResults": 30
}

Pricing

This actor uses the pay-per-result pricing model:

Event	Price
Per result	$0.002
Actor start	$0.00005

Users also pay standard Apify platform compute costs. A typical run downloading 365 days of daily data for one reservoir costs approximately $0.73 in result fees plus minimal compute costs.

Common Use Cases

• Drought Monitoring -- Track reservoir storage levels across the Colorado River Basin to monitor drought conditions in real time
• Water Supply Forecasting -- Feed historical storage and inflow data into predictive models for agricultural water allocation
• Environmental Compliance -- Document dam release volumes for regulatory reporting and environmental impact assessments
• Infrastructure Planning -- Analyze long-term reservoir capacity trends for water infrastructure investment decisions
• Academic Research -- Access decades of hydrological time series data for climate science, hydrology, and water policy research
• RAG Pipelines -- Structured JSON output feeds directly into retrieval-augmented generation systems for AI-powered water analytics

Input Reference

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
dataType	string	No	timeseries	timeseries for measurement data, catalog to browse/search datasets
itemId	integer	No	--	Catalog item ID to download (e.g., 509 for Lake Powell storage)
searchQuery	string	No	--	Search keyword (e.g., "Lake Mead", "Colorado River")
startDate	string	No	30 days ago	Start date for time series (YYYY-MM-DD)
endDate	string	No	Today	End date for time series (YYYY-MM-DD)
maxResults	integer	No	500	Maximum number of records to return

Example Output (Time Series)

{
    "itemId": 509,
    "locationName": "Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam and Powerplant",
    "state": "AZ",
    "latitude": 37.05778,
    "longitude": -111.30332,
    "reclamationRegion": "UC",
    "facilityType": "Lake/Reservoir",
    "parameterName": "Lake/Reservoir Storage",
    "units": "af",
    "timestep": "daily",
    "timezone": "MT",
    "aggregation": "instant",
    "dateTime": "2024-01-01 07:00:00",
    "value": 8429440,
    "timeStep": "day",
    "resultType": "observed"
}

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FAQ

What is the RISE API? RISE (Reclamation Information Sharing Environment) is the Bureau of Reclamation's public data platform providing water operations data for dams, reservoirs, and water projects across the western United States.

What dams and reservoirs are covered? The database includes over 1,200 catalog records covering major facilities like Lake Powell, Lake Mead, Shasta Lake, Folsom Lake, and hundreds of smaller reservoirs and diversion structures across 17 western states.

How often is the data updated? Most operational datasets (storage, elevation, releases) are updated daily. Some datasets have monthly or irregular update frequencies.

What do the units mean?

• af = acre-feet (volume, 1 af = 325,851 gallons)
• cfs = cubic feet per second (flow rate)
• ft = feet (elevation/depth)

Is this data free to use? Yes. Bureau of Reclamation data is public domain US government data. No authentication is required. Data is provisional and subject to revision unless otherwise noted.

Legal Disclaimer

This actor accesses publicly available data from the Bureau of Reclamation RISE API. The data is provided by the US government and is in the public domain. Data are provisional and subject to revision. Users should consider the provisional nature of the information before making decisions based on it. This actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Bureau of Reclamation.

For support, open an issue on GitHub or contact us through the Apify platform.