RED RIVER OF THE NORTH BASIN

05051500 RED RIVER OF THE NORTH AT WAHPETON, ND

LOCATION.--Lat 46×15'55", long 96×35'40", in NE14 sec.8, T.132 N., R.47 W., Richland County, Hydrologic Unit 09020104, on left bank in Wahpeton, 800 ft downstream from confluence of Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail Rivers, and at mile 548.6.

DRAINAGE AREA.--4,010 mi2, approximately.

WATER-DISCHARGE RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD.--May to October 1942, March 1943 to current year. Gage-height records collected in this vicinity since 1917 are contained in reports of the National Weather Service.

GAGE.--Water-stage recorder and concrete and wooden dam. Datum of gage is 942.97 ft above National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929. Prior to Aug. 6, 1943, National Weather Service nonrecording gage 800 ft upstream, converted to present datum. Aug. 6, 1943, to Oct. 27, 1950, nonrecording gage at present site and datum.

REMARKS.--Records good except for estimated daily discharges, which are poor. Flow regulated by; Orwell Reservoir, flood storage capacity, 13,300 acre-ft at elevation 1,070 ft above mean sea level, adjustment of 1912; Mud Lake, flood storage capacity, 78,600 acre-ft at elevation 981 ft above mean sea level, adjustment of 1912; Lake Traverse, flood storage capacity, 75,100 acre-ft at elevation 981 ft above mean sea level, adjustment of 1912; and numerous other controlled lakes and ponds and several powerplants.

EXTREMES OUTSIDE PERIOD OF RECORD.--A stage of 17.0 ft, discharge, 10,500 ft3/s, occurred in the spring of 1897.

Discharge, cubic feet per second 

WATER YEAR OCTOBER 2003 TO SEPTEMBER 2004

DAILY MEAN VALUES

DAY	OCT	NOV	DEC	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP
1	123	129	137	e145	e92	e265	650	455	1,870	575	426	218
2	109	130	124	e150	e92	e265	557	403	2,260	534	413	213
3	102	130	99	e150	e92	e265	469	397	2,200	524	406	231
4	103	132	96	e150	e92	e265	418	393	1,880	554	430	274
5	104	140	96	e145	e92	e270	403	400	1,600	532	472	387
6	104	108	95	e145	e120	e270	412	424	1,400	622	490	738
7	104	103	95	e145	e130	e270	439	453	1,340	857	506	1,200
8	108	123	96	e145	e135	e270	487	448	1,300	1,100	493	1,080
9	111	131	97	e140	e135	e270	454	447	1,270	1,150	495	888
10	116	162	85	e125	e135	e270	415	448	1,250	1,110	488	780
11	117	154	80	e120	e140	e270	412	433	1,210	1,170	477	726
12	123	146	e78	e120	e140	e280	411	449	1,270	1,440	466	695
13	119	129	e77	e120	e140	e300	409	452	1,290	1,580	478	692
14	120	133	e77	e125	e145	e305	409	450	1,180	1,460	493	679
15	114	124	e76	e130	e160	e305	408	477	1,110	1,250	492	617
16	97	121	e75	e140	e180	e315	444	507	1,040	1,080	487	609
17	98	113	e74	e140	e180	e330	484	535	972	1,010	482	801
18	122	102	e81	e140	e185	e350	487	516	931	1,000	451	880
19	131	81	e92	e135	e185	e390	489	513	861	984	433	795
20	130	92	e100	e135	e190	e480	489	525	841	943	418	766
21	133	91	e110	e130	e195	e530	505	534	842	895	411	1,490
22	128	e90	e110	e115	e195	e570	497	522	811	867	392	2,420
23	111	e86	e110	e105	e195	e590	493	521	751	817	391	2,790
24	108	e85	e110	e95	e190	e600	489	538	705	767	457	3,030
25	107	e140	e110	e94	e190	600	479	559	666	720	499	3,140
26	111	e220	e110	e94	e190	575	476	550	651	665	253	2,920
27	112	e190	e115	e94	e210	588	478	590	637	557	200	2,500
28	113	155	e115	e93	e240	604	471	633	626	448	246	2,100
29	116	135	e115	e93	e260	556	470	660	634	433	254	1,870
30	112	136	e120	e92	---	604	475	876	617	434	254	1,730
31	116	---	e135	e92	---	671	---	1,540	---	437	235	---
TOTAL	3,522	3,811	3,090	3,842	4,625	12,493	13,979	16,648	34,015	26,515	12,888	37,259
MEAN	114	127	99.7	124	159	403	466	537	1,134	855	416	1,242
MAX	133	220	137	150	260	671	650	1,540	2,260	1,580	506	3,140
MIN	97	81	74	92	92	265	403	393	617	433	200	213
AC-FT	6,990	7,560	6,130	7,620	9,170	24,780	27,730	33,020	67,470	52,590	25,560	73,900
STATISTICS OF MONTHLY MEAN DATA FOR WATER YEARS 1942 - 2004, BY WATER YEAR (WY)
MEAN	344	325	304	289	311	707	1,442	1,139	1,097	849	453	366
MAX	1,599	952	967	678	868	2,629	8,717	3,344	2,981	2,787	2,496	2,148
(WY)	(1994)	(1987)	(1999)	(1986)	(1998)	(1995)	(1997)	(1997)	(2001)	(1993)	(1993)	(1993)
MIN	5.72	7.40	6.60	8.81	18.0	84.3	138	22.5	90.0	65.6	53.5	2.18
(WY)	(1977)	(1977)	(1977)	(1977)	(1977)	(1977)	(1977)	(1977)	(1977)	(1977)	(1977)	(1976)

SUMMARY STATISTICS	FOR 2003 CALENDAR YEAR	FOR 2004 WATER YEAR	WATER YEARS 1942 - 2004
ANNUAL TOTAL	189,385	172,687
ANNUAL MEAN	519	472	633
HIGHEST ANNUAL MEAN			1,600 1997
LOWEST ANNUAL MEAN			54.0 1977
HIGHEST DAILY MEAN	3,740 Jun 26	3,140 Sep 25	12,700 Apr 15, 1997
LOWEST DAILY MEAN	74 Dec 17	74 Dec 17	1.7 Aug 28, 1976
ANNUAL SEVEN-DAY MINIMUM	77 Dec 11	77 Dec 11	1.7 Aug 28, 1976
MAXIMUM PEAK FLOW		3,160 Sep 25	12,800 Apr 15, 1997
MAXIMUM PEAK STAGE		10.03 Sep 25	19.42 Apr  6, 1997
INSTANTANEOUS LOW FLOW			1.7 Aug 28, 1976
ANNUAL RUNOFF (AC-FT)	375,600	342,500	458,500
10 PERCENT EXCEEDS	1,040	1,080	1,450
50 PERCENT EXCEEDS	330	392	396
90 PERCENT EXCEEDS	100	98	110

e Estimated

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