There’s a one-stop shop to learn how fast or slow the river is moving, reservoir levels, and rainfall totals in the Brazos River Basin.
Whether you’re near a river or reservoir and the threat of heavy spring rains and potential flooding means you need to stay on alert, or if you’re eyeing warm-weather water activities, BrazosBasinNOW provides the information you need to plan accordingly.
The Brazos River Authority launched BrazosBasinNOW in 2018 to give you a simple, all-in-one source for rainfall and streamflow details, making it easier to prepare for a leisurely float down the river or a gully-washing downpour.
The URL is easy to remember, but save yourself the trouble and bookmark it now for quick access: https://www.BrazosBasinNOW.org.
Now let’s break down the three main sections of the website: Streamflow, Reservoirs, and Rainfall.
Streamflow
Streamflow is important to know if, for instance, you plan to kayak the river. Low streamflow can make kayaking difficult because there isn’t much water moving. Whereas a big streamflow means kayaking is out of the question as the waterway is too dangerous.
The amount of streamflow is also really important to those who live lakeside or along a river or tributary. If, for example, there is high streamflow upstream of your location, you know the water is headed your way and can take whatever precautions are necessary for the incoming water, such as moving items that may be washed away by high river flows.
On BrazosBasinNOW, you can select to view the streamflow in the Upper Basin, Central Basin, or Lower Basin. You can also just select the graphic and view the entire basin.
When you first land on the page, you’ll see a map covered in little green dots.
From there, you can use the +/- buttons on the upper left of the map to zoom in on your area of interest. You can also click and drag to move the map around.
Once you’ve zoomed in, you’ll see a green dot. This dot represents a U.S. Geological Survey gage location. The number beside that gage location is the current streamflow in cubic feet per second at that location. (See what the volume of one cubic foot looks like)
Click a green gage dot, and a small white box will appear. This will show a 7-day streamflow graphic for that location, along with the name of that gage, and how many minutes ago the site was updated. (See what influences how fast a wave of water moves downstream.)
Click the flag to bring you to one page that shows that gage’s rainfall amounts, streamflow, and a map.
Click the chat icon for more information for that particular gage. Choosing the link to the West Gulf River Forecast Center site will show you the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Water Prediction Service official forecast for that gage.
For context, the page shows the river stage at which that particular location falls across different flooding stages: Action, Minor Flooding, Moderate Flooding, and Major Flooding. It’s worth noting that forecasts are issued as needed during times of high water but are not routinely available. This site also records recent and historic crests at this gage.
Reservoirs
BrazosBasinNOW also provides detailed information on each of the 11 reservoirs within the BRA Water Supply System. The BRA reservoirs include lakes Possum Kingdom, Granbury, and Limestone. The BRA also leases water supply storage from the federal government in lakes Proctor, Whitney, Aquilla, Belton, Stillhouse Hollow, Georgetown, Granger, and Somerville, which are owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (See why lake levels fluctuate.)
From the BrazosBasinNOW homepage, select Reservoirs to view a lake’s elevation level, drawdown, and percent capacity. Clicking an option will once again bring you to a map of the basin, but this time, with far fewer dots. Once again, zoom in to see the lake that interests you. Clicking the green dot will again bring up a white box with additional information.
Click this to view the elevation, drawdown and percent capacity of the lake you selected in one place.
Rainfall
Last, but certainly not least, there’s a section for rainfall totals.
From the homepage, click Rainfall. Once again using the familiar gage format, the rainfall section of BrazosBasinNOW provides gage dots that visually indicate rainfall amounts for those gages that measure rainfall within the basin. Additional rainfall information is available by clicking on each gage then selecting the drop-down menu for that site. The site also provides rainfall gage readings from locations across the basin, as well as rainfall estimates in the watersheds. (If 1” of rain falls, how much does the lake rise?)
And more
One of the great features is that while looking at the map on any of these three sections, you can make adjustments in the column on the far right. Change the map view to view more or less detail. Bounce to another section. Turn on county jurisdiction boxes, subwatersheds, and more.
You don’t have to be a hydrologist to understand the data, and BrazosBasinNOW makes sure it’s all in one spot.
For any questions about using the site, please feel free to reach out at information@brazos.org.
To learn more about gate releases, listen to our podcast featuring BRA hydrologists and our public information staff, dropping on April 15 on our podcast page or on any platform you receive your podcasts.