PLATTE RIVER BASIN

06720500 SOUTH PLATTE RIVER AT HENDERSON, CO

LOCATION.--Lat 39°55'19", long 104°52'04", in SE14NE14 sec.34, T.1 S., R.67 W., Adams County, Hydrologic Unit 10190003, on right bank 500 ft upstream from bridge on State Highway 22, and 0.2 mi northwest of Henderson.

DRAINAGE AREA.--4,768 mi2 (revised).

PERIOD OF RECORD.--May 1926 to current year. Prior to October 1933, monthly discharge only, published in WSP 1310. Statistical summary computed for 1976 to current year, subsequent to completion of Chatfield Dam. For a complete listing of historical data available for this site, see http://waterdata.usgs.gov/co/nwis/inventory/?site_no=06720500

REVISED RECORDS.--WSP 1310: 1934-36(M). WSP 1730: Drainage area. WDR C0-88-1: 1986.

GAGE.--Water-stage recorder with satellite telemetry. Datum of gage is 4999.12 ft above NGVD of 1929. See WSP 1710 or 1730 for history of changes prior to June 1, 1960. June 1, 1960, to May 10, 1969, water-stage recorder at site 1,200 ft upstream at datum 5.00 ft higher. May 11 to Oct. 2, 1969, nonrecording gage at site 500 ft downstream at datum 3.00 ft higher. Oct. 3, 1969 to Jan. 15, 1986, at present site, at datum 3.00 ft higher.

REMARKS.--Records good except for flows above 2,990 ft3/s, which are fair, and estimated daily discharges, which are poor. Natural flow of stream affected by transmountain diversions, storage reservoirs, ground-water withdrawals, diversions for irrigation of about 253,000 acres, and return flow from irrigated areas.

COOPERATION.--Records collected and computed by Colorado Division of Water Resources and reviewed by Geological Survey.

Discharge, cubic feet per second 

WATER YEAR OCTOBER 2002 TO SEPTEMBER 2003

DAILY MEAN VALUES

DAY	OCT	NOV	DEC	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP
1	203	216	179	160	290	319	335	675	1,930	703	e221	523
2	644	239	186	163	284	320	344	472	2,010	798	e225	348
3	307	286	176	165	358	331	277	457	1,660	836	e186	494
4	237	287	177	160	374	306	229	389	1,410	629	e187	301
5	177	266	175	163	301	320	221	305	1,410	539	e227	265
6	164	266	177	168	301	323	268	223	1,170	530	247	249
7	164	272	168	167	300	303	261	200	1,660	611	246	255
8	157	275	169	160	309	299	262	216	902	509	261	303
9	154	331	176	164	311	286	256	250	784	368	552	209
10	151	326	170	161	313	286	232	2,840	864	369	252	188
11	150	342	166	165	309	277	217	1,430	956	426	285	159
12	149	337	163	162	306	285	206	925	993	387	509	155
13	154	288	168	184	316	263	194	654	958	375	396	141
14	158	247	174	273	318	219	257	513	935	368	350	155
15	155	256	170	243	319	214	283	371	927	366	334	162
16	152	256	176	240	312	220	616	437	927	376	253	143
17	157	249	171	255	274	272	519	448	949	355	203	126
18	154	255	170	255	271	880	268	596	1,950	341	231	136
19	149	252	166	254	263	416	999	698	1,200	1,080	432	142
20	151	242	167	254	249	651	544	520	1,060	434	228	134
21	156	252	173	250	247	1,030	357	442	995	391	199	128
22	154	241	173	242	258	1,100	455	300	889	382	194	141
23	157	239	170	240	263	1,100	862	255	824	381	189	133
24	158	249	186	252	274	876	2,350	254	738	369	181	132
25	159	271	153	284	266	636	690	395	679	296	194	131
26	155	261	151	292	270	734	430	479	607	236	203	120
27	169	256	164	292	290	750	364	452	539	374	240	113
28	179	238	166	289	272	474	326	597	476	394	252	112
29	277	174	164	287	---	418	502	685	543	426	255	120
30	321	181	169	289	---	363	696	1,220	720	e724	880	109
31	222	---	169	294	---	351	---	1,840	---	e341	2,240	---
TOTAL	5,994	7,850	5,282	6,927	8,218	14,622	13,820	19,538	31,665	14,714	10,852	5,827
MEAN	193	262	170	223	294	472	461	630	1,056	475	350	194
MAX	644	342	186	294	374	1,100	2,350	2,840	2,010	1,080	2,240	523
MIN	149	174	151	160	247	214	194	200	476	236	181	109
AC-FT	11,890	15,570	10,480	13,740	16,300	29,000	27,410	38,750	62,810	29,190	21,520	11,560
STATISTICS OF MONTHLY MEAN DATA FOR WATER YEARS 1976 - 2003, BY WATER YEAR (WY)
MEAN	352	334	299	324	321	364	525	1,076	1,225	792	631	374
MAX	1,835	1,268	554	592	642	842	1,732	3,923	4,796	3,204	2,074	1,141
(WY)	(1985)	(1985)	(1984)	(1984)	(1984)	(1983)	(1983)	(1980)	(1995)	(1995)	(1984)	(1984)
MIN	144	173	170	155	156	118	140	316	249	197	163	157
(WY)	(1978)	(1978)	(2003)	(1977)	(1977)	(1982)	(1982)	(2002)	(2002)	(2002)	(2002)	(1977)

SUMMARY STATISTICS	FOR 2002 CALENDAR YEAR	FOR 2003 WATER YEAR	WATER YEARS 1976 - 2003
ANNUAL TOTAL	88,281	145,309
ANNUAL MEAN	242	398	a552
HIGHEST ANNUAL MEAN			1,379 1983
LOWEST ANNUAL MEAN			252 1981
HIGHEST DAILY MEAN	2,160 May 24	2,840 May 10	b6,500 Jun 9, 1995
LOWEST DAILY MEAN	108 Apr 3	109 Sep 30	c27 Apr 7, 1977
ANNUAL SEVEN-DAY MINIMUM	118 Aug 15	120 Sep 24	69 Mar 13, 1982
MAXIMUM PEAK FLOW		5,130 May 10	d12,300 Jun 27, 1983
MAXIMUM PEAK STAGE		7.57 May 10	f7.58 Jun 27, 1983
ANNUAL RUNOFF (AC-FT)	175,100	288,200	400,200
10 PERCENT EXCEEDS	362	863	1,040
50 PERCENT EXCEEDS	215	272	337
90 PERCENT EXCEEDS	142	158	179

e Estimated. a Average discharge for 48 years (water years 1927-74), 366 ft3/s; 265,200 acre-ft/yr, prior to completion of Chatfield Dam. b Maximum daily discharge for period of record, 13,200 ft3/s, May 7, 1973. c Minimum daily discharge for period of record, 4.4 ft3/s, Apr 1, 1950. d Maximum discharge and stage for period of record, 33,000 ft3/s, May 6, 1973, gage height, 11.67 ft, from rating curve extended above 7,200 ft3/s, partly on basis of flow-over-road measurement of peak flow; maximum gage height, 12.93 ft, Jun 17, 1965, site and datum then in use. f Maximum gage height for statistical period, 9.91 ft, May 17, 1995.