Rainfall, River Flow Gauges, Flood Maps, Tree Benefits, and Other Useful Links

 

Rainfall and Flooding

Harris County Flood Warning System

Find out current and historic rainfall amounts in Harris County

Interactive map of precipitation frequency with updated data for Texas released September 2018 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Rainfall Calculator. How much rain falls during a storm? USGS Water Science School

Texas Medical Center-Rice University Flood Alert System

 

Buyers Beware

Buyers B-Where: Searchable real estate database of flood risk from the Center for Texas Beaches and Shores, Texas A&M, Galveston

Flood Factor: Find out your home’s past, present, and future flood risk. From the First Street Foundation.

 

Gauges measuring height and flow on local and state rivers and streams

National Weather Service rain and river gauges

United States Geological Survey gauges for Texas rivers

Note that while most (though not all) of our bayous and streams flow into Buffalo Bayou, they are all in the larger San Jacinto River Basin watershed. (This does not include the Brazos, Colorado or Trinity rivers, of course.) On this site, at the bottom of the page for a particular gauge, you can set up alerts to receive notices of how high the water is flowing.

USGS gauge at Piney Point, used to measure flow in Buffalo Bayou and regulate releases from the federal flood control dams upstream, Addicks and Barker.

USGS gauge at Shepherd Drive

Interactive Flood Map of Texas from the Texas Water Development Board

 

Water Resources Links for the Buffalo Bayou-San Jacinto River Watershed. From the US Geological Survey

Major USGS Links

US Geological Survey Interactive Watershed Map

Find Your Watershed

See also Watershed Maps

 

Real-time Data for Addicks and Barker reservoirs and dams on Buffalo Bayou

Addicks Reservoir and Dam

Barker Reservoir and Dam

 

Elevation

Topographic Map for Houston and Surrounding Areas

Topographic Maps for Harris County

Historic Topo Maps of Buffalo Bayou in the Memorial Park Area

Topo Map of Buffalo Bayou, 1915-1922, a composite created by Tom Helm

 

Flood Zone Maps 

Harris County Flood Education Mapping Tool

Find your flood zone where you live.

City of Houston Interactive Flood Zone Map for Houston Region

Texas Coastal Watershed Program Flood Zone Maps for coastal counties, Sept. 25, 2017

Federal Emergency Management Agency Searchable Interactive Flood Hazard Map

Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Insurance Rate Maps through Feb. 2017

 

Texas Coastal Atlas

An interactive map showing transportation, drainage patterns, ecoregions, wetlands, green space, and more. From the Center for Texas Beaches and Shores, Texas A&M, Galveston

Coastal Atlas

 

Galveston Bay Watershed and Wetland Permit Planning Tool

Wetlands Mapping Tool, Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC)

 

Sea Level Rise

Texas Coast

Searchable Map of Property at Risk from Sea Level Rise, Union of Concerned Scientists

 

Temperature, Precipitation, Drought: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate at a Glance

Historical average in Houston and Texas 

 

Drought

Monitor for Texas

 

Tides

Tide Gauge for Manchester on Buffalo Bayou and the Texas Coast

 

Trees, Runoff, Detention, Soil

Quantify the Benefit and Value of Trees in Houston and Around the World. The i-Tree program of tools developed by the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service

Cool Interactive Map for Understanding Rainfall, Runoff, and Absorption for Different Landscapes, Soil Types

River Runner: Drop a Raindrop Anywhere on the US Map and Watch How It Flows

 

Water Quality

Wastewater treatment plants, hazard waste sites in Harris County

Houston Galveston Area Council Water Resources Information Map

Interactive Map of Wastewater Outfalls (Drain Pipes) Flowing into Texas Streams from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

 

Mosquitos

Mosquito-borne disease map, Harris County

 

Birds

Audubon Bird Migration Interactive Tracker

 

Harvey

Map of Rainfall from Aug. 26 to Sept. 4, 2017

Animation of Hurricane Harvey inundation above and below Addicks and Barker dams, Aug-Sept. 2017, US Army Corps of Engineers

Water levels and flood hazard areas during Harvey, University of California, Davis, Center for Watershed Sciences

An interactive story map about Hurricane Harvey from the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University and Houston Community Data Connections

 

Houston Development

An interactive story map of Houston’s historic development from Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research

 

Rebuild Houston

An interactive map of City of Houston Public Works and Engineering Capital Improvement Projects. Find your neighborhood.

How Rivers Work

Why Rivers Move. A very informative, 18-minute video from Practical Engineering.

Why Engineers Can’t Control Rivers. Another great video, 16 minutes, from Practical Engineering.

Why Rivers Shouldn’t Look Like This, 6-minute video, The Guardian