To further clarify the example about the Gauley you must look at a
couple of other things.

1) The distance between the gauges and the time when the flows (cfs)
were taken. The Belva gauge is about 27 miles downstream from
Summersville Dam. It's flow is based on what was being released at
Summersville Dam several hours earlier.

2) There are several small creeks that flow into the Gauley. These can
all add to the flow that is measured at Belva. Normally these creeks
add very little to the flow but they can make a significant difference
if their watersheds received a large amount if rainfall in a short
period of time.

It is my understanding that the level (feet) as measured by a USGS
gauge is not standardized (across many gauges). So the level on one
gauge on a river many not have anything to do with the level on
another gauge on the same river or a different river.

Flow, in almost all cases, is based on a calculation using the level
and a cross section of the riverbed at the location of the gauge.

Chuck

"EnzoM3" wrote in message .com...
Good example is the Gauley River. Gauley at Summersville is what's coming
out of the dam. Then the Meadow add it's flow, and downstream at Gauley at
Belva is pretty much the sum of the Meadow and Gauley at Summersville.

Jim