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Water Level Rising
0.13

Truro

Kenwyn
Fal and St Austell Streams catchment • Truro • Cornwall • ID: 48128 • Level
(48m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 157 views

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Current Level
0.134 m
▲ Rising (+2cm/hr)
24h Max
0.134 m
24h Min
0.066 m
Typical Range
0.09 - 1.30
m
Highest Recorded
2.12 m
27 Jan 1988
Since Nov 1968
Current level is 6% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Rising · +7 cm over 6h
24 Aug 00:00 ▲ +0.4 cm 0.134 m
23 Aug 23:45 ▲ +2 cm 0.130 m
23 Aug 23:30 ▲ +5 cm 0.112 m
23 Aug 23:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.067 m
23 Aug 23:00 ▬ steady 0.066 m
23 Aug 22:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.066 m
23 Aug 21:30 ▬ steady 0.067 m
23 Aug 21:15 ▬ steady 0.067 m
23 Aug 21:00 ▬ steady 0.067 m
23 Aug 20:45 ▬ steady 0.067 m
23 Aug 20:30 ▬ steady 0.067 m
23 Aug 20:15 ▬ steady 0.067 m
23 Aug 20:00 ▬ steady 0.067 m
23 Aug 19:45 ▬ steady 0.067 m
23 Aug 19:30 ▬ steady 0.067 m
23 Aug 19:15 ▬ steady 0.067 m
23 Aug 19:00 ▬ steady 0.067 m
23 Aug 18:45 ▬ steady 0.067 m
23 Aug 18:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.067 m
23 Aug 18:15 0.068 m

Rainfall & Weather

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2012 for the 10 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.0 km away).

25flood warnings 17flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 2 Feb 2026Tidal Fal Estuary

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 2 3
2025 3 6
2024 2 8
2023 1 0
2020 2 0
2018 2 0
2016 1 0
2014 7 0
2013 1 0
2012 4 0

Warnings apply to a whole flood area, not necessarily this exact spot. Years before 2006 aren't covered by the EA's historic record. See also the Truro flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Truro
  • Watercourse: River Kenwyn
  • Nearest Town: Truro
  • County: Cornwall
  • Nearest reservoir: Blackpool Pit (19.1 km) · 79.5% full (as of 31 May 2026)
  • Coordinates: 50°15'54"N 5°3'38"W (50.264906, -5.060481)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 31 Oct 1968
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
  • Station Reference: 48128
  • EA Gauge ID: 48128-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 3 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Fal and St Austell Streams
  • Typical Range: 0.086 – 1.300 m
  • Drainage Area: 19 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.13 m (EA at 24 Aug 00:00)
  • Flow Archive: National River Flow Archive ↗

Geographic coordinates may reflect the access point for the gauge, and not the precise location in the watercourse that it is taking readings from.

Catchment Character

🌊 Mixed response A balance of quick runoff and slower groundwater baseflow.

Your catchment is all the land that drains rainfall into the river above this gauge. Its character — how steep, wet, wooded, urban or chalky that land is — decides how fast rain here turns into a rising river. A steep, bare or clay catchment is “flashy” (rises and falls quickly, floods easily); a flat, chalk or well-wooded one is slow and steady. The tiles below put numbers to that; the flow-duration curve reads left-to-right from the river’s typical high flows (Q5) down to its low flows (Q95) — a steep curve means a flashy river.

The physical character of the land that drains to this gauge, and how it shapes its flood response — from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH).

Baseflow Index
0.60
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,144 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +3% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
3.2%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
5.41 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
6.52 m³/s
27 Jan 1988
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.3871.290.2160.0515% (high)% of days exceeded95% (low)
Daily flow (m³/s) exceeded each % of the time — a steep curve is flashy, a flat one is steady. Q5 high · Q50 median · Q95 low.
Land Cover (2023)
Woodland 7%Grassland 48%Arable 33%Urban 12%
Grassland 60% → 48% since 1990

Photos

Gauging-station photographs from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH).

Photos © NRFA / UKCEH & the measuring authority — shown at web resolution. Full gallery on the NRFA ↗

About this gauge

Three-bay compound Crump profile weir with flood retention ponds upstream that alter high flow response.

More detail

The catchment

Catchment of moderate relief on Old Red Sandstone and Devonian grits and shales, with wooded, incised valleys. Substantially natural catchment but flood retention ponds (from 01/1991) alter high flow response. High baseflow for the relief of the catchment.

The station

Three-bay compound Crump profile weir with central crest length 1.22m and two side crests of 1.524m and 1.535m (4.27m total). Crest levels are: left 7.09mAOD, central 7.4mAOD, right 7.09mAOD. Pier and wing wall height 1.98m.

How it measures flow

Contains all flows. Weir can become non-modular at highest flows. Data from the Acoustic Time of Flight installed 100m upstream of the weir in 2009 have been integrated into the rating to improve the high flow accuracy. Previous rating overestimated high flows. New rating has reduced flows by up to 10% for peak flows on record. Low flow accuracy affected by variable shoaling directly upstream of weir. A timber weir d/s of the Crump, with a rectangular notch low flow section was installed in 06/2001 to allow water to be abstracted to feed the town leat. This is vulnerable to debris build up and can affect sensitivity of flow through central weir crest. Crump weir does not fully drown, but u/s flood storage ponds prevent large discharge over weir. One peak flow rating applied across period of record with the exception of the Jan 1988 high flow event where there are two temporary ratings applied. No bypassing expected.

The flow record

Suspect data 28/07/2001 - 23/08/2001, resulting from backing up from an informal weir which was installed immediately downstream of the Crump in 06/2001. Flood retention ponds upstream, in operation from 01/1991. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2022 (WINFAP Files v11).

Descriptions from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH). NRFA station record ↗

Gauge Details

How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).

Gauge type
Ultrasonic
Operating since
1968
Station datum
7.2 mAOD
Flow record
1968–2024 · 56 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1968
Hydrometric area
48
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Kenwyn at Truro flooding today?

The current level is 0.13m, which is within the typical range of 0.09 to 1.30m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Truro?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently rising. The chart above shows the last 7 days of measurements, updated roughly every 15 minutes.

What is a normal level for the River Kenwyn at Truro?

The typical range at this station is 0.09m to 1.30m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.30m are higher than usually seen and may indicate a flood risk.

How often is this river level data updated?

Readings are taken by the Environment Agency gauge roughly every 15 minutes and FloodRadar refreshes its data continuously, so the level shown is normally less than an hour old.

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📮 Flood risk by postcode near this gauge

Postcodes within 5 km with properties in the Environment Agency’s rivers-and-sea flood-risk bands:

Check any UK postcode’s flood risk →

🏠 Buying or renting around here? Get the Property Flood-Risk Report for any English postcode — official risk band, floods since 1946, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off. Learn more →