Gulf Coast Gauges

Bayou Queue De Tortue at Riceville water level

USGS gauge 08012300 · Acadia Parish · Lafayette and Acadiana · NWS gauge BQTL1

4.69 ft

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

Below NWS minor flood stage
6.3 ft
NWS action stage
7.0 ft
NWS minor flood stage
11.0 ft
NWS moderate flood stage
13.0 ft
NWS major flood stage
15.0 ft
Highest since 1943 (USGS)
12.01 ft (November 2, 1985)
Usual range
4.70 to 4.95 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

4.3 4.6 5.0 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 -4.92 ft NAVD88. It is not a water depth and not an elevation: add -4.92 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

4.3 4.7 5.1 2026-09-11 – 2026-10-23 · bars are daily low to high

Annual peaks since 1943

In 17 complete water years of comparable USGS records (since 1943), the highest peak was 12.01 ft on November 2, 1985. So far in water year 2027 (since October 1) the highest reading is 5.06 ft on October 13, 2026.

4 7 10 13 16 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 major 15 ft moderate 13 ft minor 11 ft action 7 ft Water year 1943: 8.02 ft on September 20, 1943 Water year 1944: 6.50 ft on November 9, 1943 Water year 1945: 5.58 ft on February 7, 1945 Water year 1946: 8.35 ft on May 18, 1946 Water year 1947: 8.40 ft on March 15, 1947 Water year 1948: 6.45 ft on March 6, 1948 Water year 1949: 6.35 ft on July 18, 1949 Water year 1986: 12.01 ft on November 2, 1985 Water year 1988: 9.47 ft on February 21, 1988 Water year 1990: 11.17 ft on February 10, 1990 Water year 1991: 9.45 ft on January 12, 1991 Water year 1997: 10.44 ft on October 28, 1996 Water year 1998: 10.80 ft on January 8, 1998 Water year 1999: 11.00 ft on September 15, 1999 Water year 2024: 8.70 ft on January 28, 2024 Water year 2025: 10.09 ft on May 10, 2025 Water year 2026: 9.06 ft on December 6, 2025 Water year 2027 so far: 5.06 ft on October 13, 2026 1986 1999

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-queue-de-tortue-at-riceville.csv (CSV): every reading stored for this gauge since September 11, 2026, 4,049 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.