WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
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Live lake level, flow, historical records and forecast for Blanco River at Blanco in TX, United States, built from official government gauge data.
The Blanco River in the San Marcos watershed, Texas, has a short record at this station.
The highest reading in the record was 13.21 ft (4.03 m) in July 2026. The lowest was 12.31 ft (3.75 m) in April 2026.
That span is small: the typical annual swing is 2 in (5.1 cm). The usual high month is July at 12.53 ft (3.82 m), and the usual low month is March at 12.36 ft (3.77 m). For someone keeping a dock, intake, or bank access in mind, that means this station has been tracking within a narrow band so far.
With only 1 year on record, the page is still early in building a longer pattern. In a rainfall-driven system, sharp rises can happen in hours, so a short record should be treated as a first look rather than a full range of what the river can do.
This station sits on the Blanco River in the San Marcos watershed. I do not have a drainage-area figure here, so I won’t guess at the size of the land upstream of the gauge.
What matters in a flash-flood setting is timing. Between rain events, flow can sit low for long stretches, then change quickly after a heavy storm. That is the pattern people using the river for crossing, fishing, or low-water access need to watch.
The hero number on this page is today’s reading compared with the median for this calendar day across the station’s record. That is more useful than raw elevation because it tells you whether the river is running high or low for this time of year, not just where it sits on the staff.
This station is published by the USGS, with about 1 year on record.
Readings come from official government gauges and are rolled into daily records: the daily mean, high and low for every day on record. Each calendar day gets its own baseline from the full history, so the level you see is compared against what this specific date usually looks like rather than an annual average.
Real-time water levels, forecasts, and alerts for lakes and rivers in a growing number of countries. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 17,900 gauged lakes and rivers in a growing number of countries, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, the Environment Agency for England, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Natural Resources Wales, the Office of Public Works in Ireland (waterlevel.ie), the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), the State of Queensland's water monitoring network, and on the Great Lakes the Canadian Hydrographic Service and NOAA. Every number on the platform is measured, not modelled - taken from a government gauge on the water itself and compared against that location's own historical record for this exact date.
The level right now, in feet or metres, updated as the source agency publishes new readings - for many stations that is every five to fifteen minutes. How today compares to typical: every location carries its own typical-for-this-date band built from its historical record, so a reading is never just a number - it is above, below, or near what this water usually does on this calendar day. Which way it is moving: a measured RISING, FALLING, or STEADY verdict computed from the gauge's own recent readings, with the rate of change - the difference between a flood ending and one beginning. What comes next: level forecasts up to 72 hours ahead, driven by the gauge's recent behaviour, upstream water, and quantitative precipitation forecasts, alongside live radar, lightning, and weather for the surrounding region.
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