Water School

The rate of the river flow is measured in cubic feet per second (cfs), which is the measure of the volume of water passing any given point in a river in one second. One cubic foot of water is about the size of a beachball. These levels are measured by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) along the course of the waterflow at different points, or subsections, along a marked line. A river will typically be measured approximately 25 to 30 times at regularly spaced locations. USGS gage loc...