Usgs Water

What Usgs Water MCP server does

The Usgs Water MCP server exposes selected USGS Water Services (NWIS) data through the Model Context Protocol. It is intended for agents that need measurements from USGS gauge sites rather than a general-purpose environmental database.

The server covers three main tasks:

• Retrieve the latest instantaneous readings for one or more gauge sites.
• Retrieve a daily time series for one site and parameter over a date range.
• Find active gauge sites in a US state that are currently reporting a selected parameter.

Common parameters include discharge or streamflow (00060), gage height (00065), water temperature (00010), precipitation (00045), specific conductance (00095), dissolved oxygen (00300), and turbidity (63680). The available parameter codes depend on the USGS data request.

Tools and capabilities

current_conditions returns the newest available instantaneous value for each requested site and parameter. It is suitable for checking present streamflow, river stage, or other live gauge measurements.

daily_values returns one daily statistic for a single site and parameter across a requested date range. The default statistic is the daily mean. Supported statistic codes include mean (00003), maximum (00001), and minimum (00002). This makes the tool suitable for trend analysis, hydrographs, and historical comparisons.

find_sites searches for active USGS gauge sites in a specified state that are reporting a parameter in real time. It includes the latest reading for matching sites. Because a search can match many gauges, results are capped.

How it works

The Usgs Water MCP server is available as a scoped endpoint at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/usgs-water/mcp. The endpoint lists the pack's tools along with shared Pipeworx gateway tools. The gateway can also expose the tools through the full endpoint at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp; the data source is the same, but the directly listed tools differ.

For clients or scripts that do not use MCP, the gateway provides HTTP tool calls. For example, a POST request can invoke usgs_water_current_conditions with a site identifier. The source says that no account is needed for the first calls.

Setup and configuration

Add the scoped gateway URL to an MCP client that supports remote MCP connections. The README specifically gives configurations for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf.

The Usgs Water MCP server can also run locally through standard input and output with the npm package @pipeworx/mcp-usgs-water:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "usgs-water": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-usgs-water"]
    }
  }
}

The local mode does not require a Pipeworx account or gateway round trip. It serves only the three pack tools and does not include the gateway's shared meta-tools. The package can also be started directly with npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-usgs-water to verify that it launches.

Limitations and notes

This is an independent, unofficial integration and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or published by USGS. daily_values accepts one site and one parameter per request, while find_sites may cap results when many sites match. Gateway-scoped connections include additional Pipeworx meta-tools, so their tool list is larger than the three data tools. The standalone process exposes only the pack-specific tools and does not provide ask_pipeworx routing.