Illustrated cartographic portrait of Lake Sakakawea

North Dakota River Levels

Current river levels and flood stages for 7 rivers gauged in North Dakota.

North Dakota gauge register

Reporting gauge groups and their current flood status

RiverRiverReportingReportingFlood statusFlood status
Beaver Creek1 gauge1 gaugenormalnormal
Cedar Creek1 gauge1 gaugenormalnormal
James River (ND, SD)13 gauges13 gaugesnormalnormal
Missouri River (MT)3 gauges3 gaugesnormalnormal
Missouri River1 gauge1 gaugenormalnormal
Spring Creek1 gauge1 gaugenormalnormal
Willow Creek1 gauge1 gaugenormalnormal

Scroll across the table for all readings →

North Dakota river levels: common questions

Is any river flooding in North Dakota right now?

No gauge in the state is above flood stage. No gauge is above action stage either.

Which rivers are gauged in North Dakota?

7 in total, listed above. The most heavily instrumented is the James River, with 14 gauges. A river appears under every state it runs through, so a page reached from here may cover reaches outside North Dakota as well.

What is the difference between flood stage and action stage?

Action stage is the level at which the Weather Service starts paying attention and agencies begin preparing. Flood stage is the level at which water starts affecting property or roads at that specific location. Both are set per gauge by the local Weather Service office, which is why two gauges on the same river can have very different numbers.