Depth Marker

The Depth Marker is a simple, free diagnostic tool available to both Folktails and Iron Teeth that displays the current water depth at its location. Requiring no resources to build and no workers to operate, this small structure provides essential information for planning your water infrastructure. By placing Depth Markers at key points along rivers, behind dams, and in reservoirs, players gain real-time visibility into water levels, helping them anticipate drought conditions and make informed decisions about pump placement and dam construction.

While the Depth Marker provides only basic depth information compared to the more advanced Stream Gauge, its zero cost makes it ideal for widespread deployment across your water network. Place Depth Markers at the deepest points of your reservoirs to monitor storage capacity, at river narrows to track flow levels, and near your Water Pumps and Deep Water Pumps to verify they have adequate water depth to operate. During droughts, watching Depth Marker readings decline gives you early warning to activate conservation measures, ration water supplies, or redirect fluid from reserves.

The Depth Marker is one of those buildings that new players often overlook but experienced players deploy extensively. Understanding water depth across your map is fundamental to effective water management, and the Depth Marker provides that information at no cost. For more detailed monitoring that includes flow rate and contamination data, upgrade to the Stream Gauge, which provides comprehensive fluid analytics at the cost of 250 Science Points. Use Depth Markers liberally during the early game to map out your water sources, identify the deepest pools for pump placement, and track how water levels change between temperate and drought seasons.