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River Flows for Hydro Plants

You may track, on an hourly basis, water levels and flows of the recreational rivers and lakes near AEP's hydroelectric facilities. See a map of our plant locations.

Explanation of terms

  • The "Forebay" and "Tailwater" numbers show the feet above sea level of the water levels immediately upstream and downstream from our plants.
  • "Tailwater Flow" is the hourly average of the river flow just downstream of the plants, measured in cubic feet per second.

Updated 02-MAY-2024 22:20 EDT

New River Flows & Forecasts

Water release information for AEP's Claytor, Buck, and Byllesby hydro dams is updated every fifteen minutes. PLEASE NOTE: Forecast information is estimated. Water travel times may be affected by water conditions, precipitation in the watershed and other factors

Most Recent Conditions

Project Normal Full Pond Forebay Actual (Feet) Tail Water (Feet) Tail Water (CFS)
Buck 2003.40 2002.92 1960.59 1936
Byllesby 2079.20 2078.83 2023.03 1662
Claytor 1846.00 1845.45 1730.98 2364

See plant-specific notices below.

New River - Downstream Forecasts

Forecast information shows water release information from the Claytor dam, delayed to account for the average time it takes the released water to reach particular points downstream. Water travel times may be affected by water conditions, precipitation in the watershed and other factors.

Kanawha River

Project Normal Full Pond Forebay Actual (Feet) Tail Water (Feet) Tail Water (CFS)
London 614.00 613.97 590.54 3359
Marmet 590.00 589.98 566.56 5835
Winfield 566.00 566.22 539.15 3851

See plant-specific notices below.

Roanoke River

Project Normal Full Pond Forebay Actual (Feet) Tail Water (Feet) Tail Water (CFS)
Leesville 613.00.00 606.89 534.37 1005
Niagara 885.00 884.77
Smith Mountain 795.00 794.16 607.17

See plant-specific notices below.

Saint Joseph River

Project Normal Full Pond Forebay Actual (Feet) Tail Water (Feet) Tail Water (CFS)
Berrien Springs 623.50 623.62 599.10 5304
Buchanan summer: 637.50
winter: 637.20
637.49 625.39 4287
Constantine 782.90 782.90 771.86
Elkhart 741.50
winter: 739.50
739.41 722.25
Mottville summer: 770.40
winter: 770.00
770.40 759.84 2410
Twin Branch 717.10 716.98 696.58 3959

See plant-specific notices below.

Plant-Specific Notices

As of 05:00 this morning, Thursday May 02, 2024, inflow to the Smith Mountain Project was 819 CFS and the discharge from Leesville was 1075 CFS. The adjusted reservoir elevations was 795.1 ft. The flow rate at the USGS Gauge at Brookneal was 1600 CFS, Stage 5.29 ft. and at Altavista 1310 CFS, Stage 2.66 ft.