Streamgage Potomac River at Georgetown
There is a streamgage at the upstream end of Georgetown Waterfront Park operated by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Park Service. (See photos below.) The Georgetown streamgage measures the height (stage) of the river. USGS streamgage data are used for flood forecasting, stormwater management, tidal monitoring, climate change studies, bridge design, water resource assessment, water quality studies, stream restoration, and recreations. Users include federal, state and local governments, consultants and engineering firms, universities, and interested citizens such as fishermen, kayakers and boaters. The USGS operates a national network of about 7,000 streamgages throughout the United States. The graphic shows their locations in the Potomac River Watershed in Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
The Potomac River through Washington DC contains freshwater, but the levels rise and fall under the influence of the ocean tides in Chesapeake Bay, located some 112 miles (180 km) downstream. The head-of-tide in the river is about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) further upstream near the western boundary of the District of Columbia. Because of the tide water moves both upstream and downstream, the Georgetown streamgage is used only for measuring the height or stage of the river, and does not measure flow. The nearest flow-measuring streamgage on the Potomac River is located 5 miles (8 km) upstream at LIttle Falls Dam.
The data for the Georgetown streamgage can be accessed in real time on the internet at the USGS National Water Information System. . You can also access the flow measurements from Little Falls at USGS National Water Information Systems. Together, these two streamgages, and several more located upstream, are crucial to providing flood warnings for Washington, for managing the drinking water supply for the metropolitan area, monitoring the movement of pollution towards Chesapeake Bay, and managing habitat for the fish in the Potomac River. Please visit the USGS web site for more information.
Streamgage Canister of end of GWP at 34th Street
Reference Point for Streamgage
