Swannanoa River at Biltmore Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Swannanoa River at Biltmore in NC, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location NC, United States
- Watershed upper french broad
- Primary gauge 03451000 (USGS)
About Swannanoa River at Biltmore
Swannanoa River at Biltmore is in the Upper French Broad watershed in North Carolina.
What the record shows
The record high is 18.24 ft (5.56 m), set in September 2024. The record low is 1.01 ft (0.31 m), set in September 2002.
The usual seasonal shape is narrower than those extremes. April is the highest typical month at 2.03 ft (0.62 m), while August is the lowest typical month at 1.49 ft (0.45 m). The typical annual swing is 6.5 in (16.6 cm).
For people living or fishing along the river, that means the channel spends most years moving within a modest band, but the station has also seen much larger departures at both ends. A dock, bank access, or shallow crossing needs to be built for the everyday range first, then checked against those outlying records.
The watershed
This station drains 130 sq mi (337 km2) upstream of the gauge. That is the area feeding the reading here, not the whole watershed on the map.
With 50 years on record, this site gives a useful local view of how the river behaves across wet and dry spells. The seasonal pattern matters for timing: April tends to run higher than August, so late-summer conditions are often the lower-water baseline. If you use this reach for fishing or water intake planning, the monthly shift is smaller than the record spread, but it is still enough to change depth and edge habitat.
Reading the hero number
The number shown on the page is most useful when compared with the median for this calendar day, not just the raw elevation. A single stage value can look high or low on its own; the daily median shows whether today is normal for this date at this station.
This station is operated by the USGS, and the comparison is built from the station’s own record of 50 years. That makes it a local reference, not a regional average, which is what cottagers, anglers, and flood-watchers need when deciding what the river is doing right now.
How this page is built
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.
How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories
Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK
Real-time water levels, forecasts, and alerts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 13,000 gauged lakes and rivers across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, and the Environment Agency for England. 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.
What you can see for any monitored lake or river
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.
Alerts that watch the water for you
Set a threshold on any location - a level, a distance above typical, or a rate of climb - and Nibi emails or notifies you the moment the gauge crosses it. Cottagers use it for spring freshet, anglers for river conditions, marinas and municipalities for operations. The scanning runs around the clock against the same measured data shown on every page.
Where Nibi comes from
Nibi means water in Anishinaabemowin. The platform began at a family cottage on Lake Muskoka, Ontario, where the spring melt floods the shoreline most years and the only forecast was standing on the dock, looking, and guessing. It grew into an independent, member-funded platform run by Muskoka Research Inc. - no investors, no data resale, and a privacy policy shorter than most cookie banners. The core data is free for everyone, forever; paid plans add automation like multi-location alerts, deep history, and reports.
Coverage
Nibi spans the continent: every Canadian province and territory with active federal gauges - from Vancouver Island rivers to the Muskoka lakes, prairie reservoirs, and Quebec's hydrometric network - and the United States from Maine to the Texas Hill Country, the Ohio Valley, and the Pacific Northwest. Coverage grows where the water news is: when a basin floods, its gauges join the platform with their full historical records attached. Many stations report every five to fifteen minutes; most report at least hourly; every page states exactly when its gauge last spoke.
Free forever, funded by members
The core promise is simple: the water data is free, for everyone, forever. Live levels, maps, radar, and recent history never sit behind a paywall. Paid plans fund the platform by adding automation - multi-location alerts, decades of history, longer forecasts, and PDF reports - so the people who need more carry the cost for everyone who just needs to check the lake before driving up. There are no investors and no advertising deals shaping what the data says.
Water Stories
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The science of snow water equivalent and why it drives the season ahead.
What the numbers on the measuring stick actually tell you.
Why Central and South Texas rivers go from gravel beds to fifty-year records in an afternoon - including July 2026 on the Nueces.
One percent, every year, forever - unwrapping hydrology's most misunderstood phrase, and how it differs from our own percentiles.
How every number is computed - About the platform
