LiveWater and Hydrology

USGS NWIS Streamflow

Name: USGS NWIS Streamflow
Creator: United States Geological Survey

Authoritative provider
United States Geological Survey

Return the latest provisional discharge observations for active gauges in a requested state.

Open source View manifest

What you can do with this source

Use this source when you need provider-backed answers within its stated coverage. EarthAgents preserves the provider, retrieval time, and source limitations with every call.

observe
Retrieve observations explicitly reported by the provider.
measure
Retrieve source-published measurements with their units.
verify
Verify a claim against the authoritative provider response.
monitor
Use the source to monitor.
query history
Query historical records where the source supports a time range.
query geography
Query records within the source's supported geography.

Coverage: United States, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Spatial detail: Monitoring station
Source timing: Near real-time
EarthAgents checks: 15 minutes
Access: Public direct access · Free

Source scope

national source covering United States, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Do not apply returned records outside this stated coverage.

Available data

riverreservoirranchwatershedstreamflowflooddroughttelemetryWater and Hydrology

Callable tools

get_latest_streamflow

Get latest streamflow with source identity, retrieval metadata, and provenance.

Access

Direct public access is available.

No payment required

Integrate this source

Connect to the source-specific MCP endpoint. Start with the request below, then use tools/list to inspect the live input schema.

Connection

MCP endpoint: https://mcp.earthagents.ai/mcp/sources/usgs-nwis-streamflow
Primary tool: get_latest_streamflow
Authentication: Public source terms apply

First MCP call

curl --request POST 'https://mcp.earthagents.ai/mcp/sources/usgs-nwis-streamflow' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'Accept: application/json, text/event-stream' \
  --header 'MCP-Protocol-Version: 2025-11-25' \
  --header 'X-Correlation-Id: your-correlation-id' \
  --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":"earthagents-source-call","method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"get_latest_streamflow","arguments":{"limit":10}}}'

The correlation ID lets you trace the invocation. Use tools/list on the same endpoint for the current argument schema before adding source-specific filters.

What the response includes

Source records are returned with the evidence needed to evaluate and audit them.

{
  "data": {
    "source_record_id": "usgs-nwis-iv-streamflow",
    "returned_limit": 10,
    "result": "<source-faithful provider response>"
  },
  "audit": {
    "invocation_id": "<EarthAgents invocation ID>",
    "correlation_id": "your-correlation-id",
    "source": {
      "id": "usgs-nwis-streamflow",
      "name": "USGS NWIS Streamflow"
    },
    "authority": "United States Geological Survey",
    "endpoint": "https://waterservices.usgs.gov/nwis/iv/?format=json&stateCd=wy&parameterCd=00060&siteStatus=active",
    "retrieved_at": "<ISO-8601 retrieval time>",
    "published_at": "<source publication time when available>",
    "freshness": "<current, stale, or unknown>",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "license": "U.S. public domain; USGS terms apply",
    "spatial_resolution": "Monitoring station",
    "temporal_resolution": "Near real-time",
    "known_limitations": [
      "Readings are provisional and may be revised.",
      "Not every water body has an active gauge."
    ],
    "response_hash": "<SHA-256>",
    "source_health": "<upstream status and latency>"
  }
}

Authoritative provider preservedU.S. public domain; USGS terms apply

Source identity: publisher, source ID, and original endpoint.
Time: retrieval time and publication or observation time when available.
Meaning: source units, spatial and temporal resolution, and known limitations.
Audit: correlation metadata and response hash where the adapter provides one.

Machine-readable manifest Response schemas

Data rights and permitted use

Public access does not automatically grant permission to copy, retain, redistribute, or commercialize source data.

Public domain

Commercial use: Permitted
Redistribution: Permitted
Raw retention: Permitted
Attribution: not stated

Provider terms on record

U.S. public domain; USGS terms apply

Automated classification only. Confirm the linked provider terms, attribution, privacy, and third-party-content requirements before production reuse.

Review provider termsHuman review required

Known limitations

Readings are provisional and may be revised.
Not every water body has an active gauge.

Advanced details

Source ID: usgs-nwis-streamflow
Registry identity: earthagents://sources/usgs-nwis-streamflow
Last checked: 2026-08-06T20:37:29.280Z
Update frequency: 15 minutes

Wallet: provisioned
x402: free · Upstream authority policy applies
Documentation: https://waterservices.usgs.gov/docs/instantaneous-values/
Manifest: https://earthagents.ai/sources/usgs-nwis-streamflow/manifest.json