Gulf Coast Gauges

Bayou Plaquemine Brule at Esterwood water level

USGS gauge 08011020 · Acadia Parish · Lafayette and Acadiana · NWS gauge ESWL1

7.46 ft

gage height, Oct 23, 2026 at 2:00 PM CDT · 3 hours ago

Below NWS minor flood stage
4.5 ft
NWS action stage
11.0 ft
NWS minor flood stage
12.0 ft
NWS moderate flood stage
14.0 ft
NWS major flood stage
16.0 ft
Highest since 1948 (USGS)
15.60 ft (May 18, 1953)
Usual range
7.47 to 7.74 ft

USGS marks recent readings as provisional: they can be revised after review.

No National Weather Service alert covering Acadia Parish was active when this page was generated (Oct 23, 2026 at 5:05 PM CDT). Alerts are issued and expire at any time; the current list is at alerts.weather.gov.

Last 7 days

7.0 7.4 7.7 Oct 17 Oct 18 Oct 19 Oct 20 Oct 21 Oct 22 Oct 23

Hourly averages of USGS readings. The shaded band is this gauge's usual range: the middle 80% of its readings since September 11, 2026.

How to read this gauge

Gage height is the height of the water surface above this gauge's own zero point, which sits at -7.31 ft NAVD88. It is not a water depth and not an elevation: add -7.31 ft to get the water surface elevation.

The flood stages are the National Weather Service's, on the same scale as the gage height; they are the NWS's references for this location, not estimates made here.

Daily highs and lows since September 11, 2026

6.9 7.4 7.9 2026-09-11 – 2026-10-23 · bars are daily low to high

Annual peaks since 1948

In 35 complete water years of comparable USGS records (since 1948), the highest peak was 15.60 ft on May 18, 1953. So far in water year 2027 (since October 1) the highest reading is 7.87 ft on October 13, 2026, higher than the annual peak in 9 of 35 years.

3 7 10 14 17 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 major 16 ft moderate 14 ft minor 12 ft action 11 ft Water year 1948: 8.50 ft on March 7, 1948 Water year 1949: 9.50 ft on April 1, 1949 Water year 1950: 11.70 ft on January 8, 1950 Water year 1951: 8.30 ft on February 1, 1951 Water year 1952: 8.40 ft on February 3, 1952 Water year 1953: 15.60 ft on May 18, 1953 Water year 1954: 6.60 ft on January 12, 1954 Water year 1955: 13.70 ft on February 9, 1955 Water year 1956: 6.40 ft on February 11, 1956 Water year 1957: 11.50 ft on June 30, 1957 Water year 1958: 5.90 ft on October 18, 1957 Water year 1959: 9.10 ft on February 23, 1959 Water year 1960: 8.60 ft on December 19, 1959 Water year 1961: 9.00 ft on February 20, 1961 Water year 1962: 10.00 ft on January 27, 1962 Water year 1963: 6.50 ft on September 20, 1963 Water year 1964: 7.20 ft on March 4, 1964 Water year 1965: 9.70 ft on March 3, 1965 Water year 1966: 9.90 ft on February 17, 1966 Water year 1967: 13.30 ft on April 17, 1967 Water year 1968: 6.30 ft on January 11, 1968 Water year 1969: 11.70 ft on April 17, 1969 Water year 1970: 4.40 ft on June 2, 1970 Water year 1971: 8.80 ft on September 21, 1971 Water year 1972: 14.20 ft on December 9, 1971 Water year 1973: 10.20 ft on April 20, 1973 Water year 1974: 9.50 ft on January 26, 1974 Water year 1976: 7.80 ft on March 28, 1976 Water year 1977: 13.60 ft on February 23, 1977 Water year 1978: 5.50 ft on June 8, 1978 Water year 2022: 11.20 ft on August 28, 2022 Water year 2023: 13.28 ft on April 9, 2023 Water year 2024: 11.77 ft on January 28, 2024 Water year 2025: 14.27 ft on May 10, 2025 Water year 2026: 11.92 ft on May 12, 2026 Water year 2027 so far: 7.87 ft on October 13, 2026 1953 2025 1972

Each dot is the highest gage height of a water year (October to September), from the USGS annual peak record, with recent years USGS has not published yet taken from its 15-minute readings and this site's own; hover a dot for its date. Dashed lines are NWS flood stages.

Download the readings

bayou-plaquemine-brule-at-esterwood.csv (CSV): every reading stored for this gauge since September 11, 2026, 4,045 rows, with time in UTC and Central, gage height in feet, and the USGS approval status.

Source. Gage height from the U.S. Geological Survey; flood stages and historic crests from the NWS National Water Prediction Service. This site is not affiliated with either agency.