Skip to main content

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 27-JUL-2024 01:35 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 2002.91 1960.50 2865
Byllesby 2079.20 2076.93 2023.02 2491
Claytor 1846.00 1845.68 1731.07 2698

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 614.00 614.07 590.86 2465
Marmet 590.00 590.17 566.30 3480
Winfield 566.00 566.27 538.77 4148

See plant-specific notices below.

Roanoke River

Project Normal Full Pond Forebay Actual (Feet) Tail Water (Feet) Tail Water (CFS)
Leesville 613.00.00 609.18 532.72 697
Niagara 885.00 885.29
Smith Mountain 795.00 792.47 607.73

See plant-specific notices below.

Saint Joseph River

Project Normal Full Pond Forebay Actual (Feet) Tail Water (Feet) Tail Water (CFS)
Berrien Springs 623.50 623.56 599.36 5081
Buchanan summer: 637.50
winter: 637.20
637.51 625.66 4039
Constantine 782.90 783.30 772.48
Elkhart 741.50
winter: 739.50
741.60 722.48
Mottville summer: 770.40
winter: 770.00
770.40 760.54 2663
Twin Branch 717.10 716.91 696.76 4436

See plant-specific notices below.

Plant-Specific Notices

As of 05:00 this morning, Friday July 26, 2024, inflow to the Smith Mountain Project was 868 CFS and the discharge from Leesville was 690 CFS. The adjusted reservoir elevations was 793.8 ft. The flow rate at the USGS Gauge at Brookneal was 1120 CFS, Stage 4.70 ft. and at Altavista 874 CFS, Stage 2.19 ft.

The Byllesby reservoir will be drawn down 2.73 feet per day over three days beginning on Friday, July 26th at 0800 hours to repair Tainter gate #6 by replacing the deformed/damaged members of the gate. Upon completion of the Tainter gate #6 repairs, the reservoir will be raised to the normal pool elevation at a rate based upon inflow.