Is the Chattahoochee River flooding?
The Chattahoochee River is tracked by 23 USGS streamgauges in Georgia. This page compares each gauge’s live water level against its official National Weather Service flood stage, refreshed every 15 minutes, so you can tell whether the Chattahoochee River is running normal, rising toward flood stage, or already flooding. 15 of 23 gauges have both a usable water-level reading and a published minor flood stage. Gauges without a published flood stage show water level and flow only. For nearby rivers, see all Georgia river levels.
River facts
The longest-running gauge on this river is Chattahoochee River at Columbus, GA. The highest level ever recorded there was 55.20 ft on 15 March 1929, carrying 198,000 cfs. Peak records there go back to 1841 (79 annual peaks).
About the Chattahoochee River
The Chattahoochee rises in the Blue Ridge Mountains of north Georgia and runs southwest past metropolitan Atlanta before forming much of the Georgia–Alabama border. It is the primary water supply for metro Atlanta, and the most heavily used river in the state.
A regulated river through a large city
Buford Dam, which impounds Lake Lanier north of Atlanta, is the dominant control on the upper Chattahoochee. Releases from the dam govern flows through the metro reach, so the river below it rises and falls on a schedule that has little to do with local rainfall.
That regulation makes the mainstem comparatively steady. It does not, however, protect the urban tributaries — and it is those creeks, not the river itself, that produce most of metro Atlanta's flash flooding.
Urban runoff
Metro Atlanta's extensive impervious surface means rainfall runs off quickly into small, steep urban streams. Those creeks can rise very fast during summer thunderstorms while the Chattahoochee mainstem barely moves.
Anyone assessing flood risk in the metro area should therefore watch the tributary gauges rather than assuming the mainstem reading represents local conditions.
Reading this river
Check whether your gauge is on the mainstem below Buford Dam or on a tributary. They behave like two different rivers, and only the tributaries respond quickly to local storms.
Cold water is a year-round consideration below the dam: releases come from deep in Lake Lanier and the water stays cold well downstream, which matters for anyone in or on the river.