The basket was the first place I checked (and where I could see the water gushing in but never quite filling it up completely). While I can't be sure I *think* it's just the pump going bad. After I cleaned the filter (and checked the skimmer to see if it was clogged) and then restarted I *finally* got full water flow -- but the pump now seems to be making a terrible, awful noise (if it was a car I'd think bad bearings).

I hate to think about replacement but it's probably due (about five years). This will be the first time I've ever replaced a pump myself so it will be an adventure (the last time I ended up paying about $500 in labor and said "Never again").