USGS Water Science Centers are located in each state.
Water Resources of South Dakota
Welcome to the USGS Web page for water resources in South Dakota. Here, you will find information on South Dakota's rivers and streams. You will also find information
on groundwater, water quality, and many other topics. The USGS operates the most extensive satellite network of streamgages in South Dakota, many of which form
the backbone of flood-warning systems.
Groundwater and Drought: Groundwater is among the Nation's most important natural resources. It provides half our drinking water and is essential to the vitality of agriculture and industry, as well as to the health of rivers, wetlands, and estuaries throughout the country. Droughts can significantly impact the Nation's groundwater resources while the drought is occurring and for some time afterward. Understanding groundwater, surface water, and the integrated nature of the hydrologic system enables resource managers and policy makers to better prepare for and respond to drought. The USGS provides groundwater data and information that resource managers and policy makers can use to prepare for and respond to drought.
StreamStats for South Dakota: StreamStats is a Web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) that provides users with access to an assortment of analytical tools that are useful for water-resources planning and management, and for engineering design applications, such as the design of bridges. StreamStats allows users to easily obtain streamflow statistics, drainage-basin characteristics, and other information for user-selected sites on streams. StreamStats users can choose locations of interest from an interactive map and obtain information for these locations. Separate applications have been established for each State that has implemented StreamStats, such as South Dakota.
NWIS Mapper: Are you looking for a new way to access water data? This interface provides a map view of the locations of sites with USGS water data. Simply zoom into your area of interest, select your site types using the checkboxes provided, and click on your site.
Realtime Streamflow
Current Activities
Project Highlights
Black Hills Area Floods Since 1877
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Weather Service, and the South Dakota Department of Transportation have cooperated on compiling a chronology of flood events in the Black Hills area that have occurred since 1877. The Black Hills area of western South Dakota has a history of damaging flash floods that have resulted primarily from exceptionally strong rain-producing thunderstorms, such as the 1972 flood that claimed the lives of 238 people and the more recent 2007 flood in the Hermosa area. Many other notable floods have occurred in the Black Hills area since settlement of the Black Hills in the late 1800s. These notable floods include the 1883 flood in Deadwood, the 1907 flood in the Piedmont area, the 1924 flood in the Belle Fourche area, and the 1937 flood in the Hot Springs area. The project Web site provides the chronology of flood events that are documented in some way since 1877 in newspapers, books, photographs, and technical reports.
The purpose of the flood compilation is to provide documentation and a context for the frequency and relative magnitude of historical large floods in the Black Hills area. The improved knowledge of flooding in the Black Hills area was used to aid in the application of paleoflood survey techniques that was being performed by the USGS in cooperation with the South Dakota Department of Transportation.
Water Alert - Receive daily or hourly updates about current conditions in rivers, lakes and groundwater when they match conditions of concern.
Featured Publication
The fact sheet"Construction of a groundwater-flow model for the Big Sioux aquifer using airborne electromagnetic methods, Sioux Falls, South Dakota" was completed in cooperation with the City of Sioux Falls. The city of Sioux Falls is the fastest growing community in South Dakota. In response to this continued growth and planning for future development, Sioux Falls requires a sustainable supply of municipal water. Planning and managing sustainable
groundwater supplies requires a thorough understanding of local groundwater resources. The Big Sioux aquifer consists of glacial outwash sands and gravels and is hydraulically connected to the Big Sioux River, which provided about 90 percent of the city’s source-water production in 2015.
Managing sustainable groundwater supplies also requires an understanding of groundwater availability. An effective mechanism to inform water management decisions is the development and utilization of a groundwater-flow model. A groundwater-flow model provides
a quantitative framework for synthesizing field information and conceptualizing hydrogeologic processes. These groundwaterflow models can support decision making processes by mapping and characterizing the aquifer. Accordingly, the city of Sioux Falls partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey to construct a groundwater-flow model. Model inputs will include data from advanced geophysical techniques, specifically airborne electromagnetic methods.The fact sheet is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/fs20163075.
Perchlorate and Selected Metals in Water and Soil within Mount Rushmore National Memorial
This video shows an author interview with Galen Hoogestraat on the study of report "Perchlorate and selected metals in water and soil within Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota, 2011–15," U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5030. An environmental concern to water resources within Mount Rushmore National Memorial has been the annual aerial display of fireworks at the memorial for the Independence Day holiday during 1998–2009 (U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5030). This video also is available on YouTube.