Monitoring River Levels

Name: _________________________________       Date: _____________

Has it rained heavily where you live recently? If not, chances are it's rained somewhere in the nation this week. Although the actual flood danger varies greatly from state to state and season to season, heavy rains often raise the risk of both flash floods and river floods.

In this activity, you'll take a look at which parts of the country are currently at risk of flooding. You'll then explore the current flow of a river or stream near your home.

1. To begin, take a look at today's United States flood map. What do the different colors on the map represent?
   
   
   
   
2. Which parts of the country (if any) are threatened with floods today?
   
   
   
   
3. Next, visit the National Weather Service's National Flood Summary. Read today's flood conditions and summarize today's outlook. Which parts of the country are most at risk?
   
   
   
   
4. Click to find out about recent Flash Flood Warnings. List all areas that received flash flood warnings.
   
   
   
   
5. Next, you'll take a look at the flood status of Rivers in the United States. Read down the river list comparing the river's flood stage with its current level, and notice how much the level has changed over the past 24 hours. Which rivers (if any) are at or near (within 10%) of flood stage? Give their locations as well.
   
   
   
   
6. Visit the U.S. Geological Survey Real-Time Water Data page. Study the color-coded map. What color and percentile apply to waterways in your area?
   
   
   
   
7. Click your state on the USGS map to see its Real Time Streamflow Data. You should now be looking at a color-coded streamflow map of your state. Describe what streamfow level each of the differntly colored dots of the map represents.
   
   
   
   
   
8. Click on the colored-dot on the map of your state that's as close to where you live as possible. What is the name of the river or stream you selected?
   
   
   
   
9. Study the discharge graph for your home river or stream. Based on the graph, what was the river's average discharge (in cubic feet per second) over the past seven days? Round to the nearest cubic foot.
   
   
   
   
10. Scroll down the page for your river or stream to Daily Mean Flow Statistics. What's the current flow (1st column of table) of your river or stream?
    
    
    
    
11. How does the current flow number compare to:
    1. flow minimum
       
       
       
       
    2. flow maximum
       
       
       
       
    3. flow mean