Webcam on Red River at Grand Forks, ND

USGS IN YOUR STATE

USGS Water Science Centers are located in each state.

The Missouri River Basin in North Dakota

  Missouri River Gaging Station at Bismarck

• Real-time Gage Height and Streamflow Data
• Real-Time Water Quality
• Flood Tracking Charts
• Missouri River InfoLINK - A Clearinghouse of Missouri River Information
• Lewis & Clark and the USGS
• Canoeing North Dakota’s Rivers
• Missouri River Gaging Station
• Significant Missouri River System Biological Sites
• Publications
• Photo Galleries

Lake Sakakawea Month-End Elevation and Contents Data, 1960-2004

• PDF File | Excel File

Data from Other Federal Agencies

• Current Missouri River Basin Reservoir Data
• Lake Sakakawea Area-Capacity Tables
• Lake Oahe Maximum Daily Midnight Elevation for Month
• Missouri River Basin Main Stem Reservoir and Release Monthly Study
• Missouri River Basin Main Stem Reservoir and Release Three-week Forecasst
• Missouri River Basin Mountain Snowpack Water Content
• Mountain Snowpack Maps for Missouri River Basin
• SNOTEL - River Basin Snow Water Content

The Missouri River is the largest river in North Dakota and accounts for 80 percent of the total mean streamflow in the State. The Missouri River Basin is comprised of seven major subbasins and drains about 34,000 square miles or about 48 percent of the State's total area.

Of the original 390 Missouri River miles in North Dakota, about 80 miles remain free-flowing. These free-flowing river miles are located in the reach just below Garrison Dam and upstream from Lake Oahe (formed by a Oahe Dam located in South Dakota). Garrison Dam, about 70 miles north of Bismarck, was built in 1953 as part of a system of dams and reservoirs located on the Missouri River in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the dams, in part, to control flooding on the Missouri River. Before the construction of Garrison Dam, the maximum peak streamflow measured at Bismarck was 500,000 cubic feet per second on April 6, 1952. For 1954-2000, the annual mean flow at Bismarck was 23,170 cubic feet per second.

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