Salt River level at Center
Missouri · Fishing & wading
Measured at USGS 05507800 — Salt River near Center, MO
Reading taken · as of 33 min ago
Low and clear — wadeable, and fish will be spooky
At 19 CFS, this gauge is running 17% of normal for mid-September — below the 115 CFS median USGS has recorded for this date across 46 years of record (1980–2026).
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Flow history at Center
Daily values from USGS 05507800, updated every 15 to 60 minutes. Provisional.
About Salt River at Center
In Missouri, below Mark Twain Lake. Releases can change the flow by hundreds of CFS in an hour with no rain in the basin — check it the morning you go, not the night before.
Reservoir feeding this stretch
Flow here is set by releases from Mark Twain Lake. A full pool usually means more water on its way down.
Salt River at Center — common questions
3 questions
How do releases from Mark Twain Lake affect this stretch?
Directly and fast. When the dam generates, flow here can climb by an order of magnitude within the hour, with no rain anywhere in the basin. That sudden release is the real hazard on a tailwater. The pool level is on lakelvl.com, linked below.
Is Salt River at Center high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for mid-September here is 115 CFS, from 46 years of record (1980–2026). Today is 17% of it. The comparison is what makes the raw number mean anything: the same reading is a drought on one river and a flood on another.
How often does this reading update?
USGS transmits from gauge 05507800 every 15 to 60 minutes. This page refreshes from USGS when you open it, and the reading is provisional until USGS reviews it. The timestamp is in the gauge's local time.