PLATTE RIVER BASIN

06738000 BIG THOMPSON RIVER AT MOUTH OF CANYON, NEAR DRAKE, CO

LOCATION.--Lat 40°25'18", long 105°13'34", in SW14SW14 sec.3, T.5 N., R.70 W., Larimer County, Hydrologic Unit 10190006, on right bank at mouth of canyon, 400 ft upstream from Handy Ditch diversion dam, and 6.0 mi east of Drake.

DRAINAGE AREA.--305 mi2.

PERIOD OF RECORD.--August 1887 to September 1892, May 1895 to September 1903, October 1926 to September 1933 (no winter records prior to October 1932, except water years 1927-28), April 1938 to September 1949, March 1951 to current year. Monthly discharge only for some periods, published in WSP 1310. Published as Big Thompson Creek at Arkins 1887-92, Big Thompson Creek near Arkins 1901-3, and as Thompson River at mouth of canyon, near Drake 1927-30, 1938-47. For a complete listing of historical data available for this site, see http://waterdata.usgs.gov/co/nwis/inventory/?site_no=06738000

REVISED RECORDS.--WSP 1310: 1891, 1927. WSP 1730: Drainage area.

GAGE.--Water-stage recorder with satellite telemetry and concrete control. Datum of gage is 5,305.47 ft above NGVD of 1929 (levels by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation). Oct. 1, 1949 to Sept. 18, 1977, at present site, datum 8.00 ft lower, Sept. 19, 1977 to July 27, 1980, at present site, datum 7.37 ft lower. See WSP 1710 or 1730 for history of changes prior to Oct. 1, 1949.

REMARKS.--Records good except for estimated daily discharges, which are poor. Diversions upstream from station for irrigation. Diversions from Colorado River basin to Big Thompson River basin upstream from station through Alva B. Adams tunnel began Aug. 10, 1947; since Apr. 15, 1953, this imported water has been diverted from Lake Estes through Olympus tunnel bypassing this station. Part of the natural flow of the Big Thompson River has also been diverted through Olympus tunnel since May 17, 1955, and Dille tunnel since Apr. 20, 1959, and may be returned to the river just downstream from this station.

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

EXTREMES FOR PERIOD OF RECORD.--Maximum discharge, 31,200 ft3/s, July 31, 1976, gage height, 19.86 ft from floodmarks, from slope-area measurements of peak flow; no flow at times in 1976 (all flow above station diverted through Olympus and Dille tunnels after flood of July 31, 1976),
1979-80 (all flow above station diverted through Dille tunnel).

EXTREMES FOR CURRENT YEAR.--Maximum discharge, 1,190 ft3/s, May 31, gage height, 4.45 ft; minimum daily, 23 ft3/s, Oct. 24.

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	48	28	e31	e28	e27	e27	53	54	984	95	68	66
2	59	35	e31	e28	e27	e26	63	52	947	96	66	41
3	68	35	e31	e28	e27	e26	71	48	788	79	66	39
4	60	33	e31	e27	e28	e26	68	87	696	73	70	42
5	49	33	e31	e27	e28	e27	61	117	564	70	69	40
6	47	e32	e31	e29	e28	e27	58	125	361	69	68	40
7	44	e31	e30	e28	e25	e27	54	117	245	67	67	42
8	41	e31	e32	e29	e25	e27	51	108	187	67	68	45
9	41	e30	e31	e27	e25	e26	51	109	138	70	70	42
10	39	e30	e31	e28	e25	e28	53	134	131	62	69	41
11	37	e31	e31	e27	e24	e28	55	140	245	62	64	41
12	35	e30	e31	e27	e24	e28	56	152	338	62	64	40
13	33	e32	e30	e27	e25	e27	60	168	311	63	62	40
14	32	e30	e29	e27	e26	e29	67	95	235	61	62	40
15	31	e31	e29	e28	e26	e31	85	77	198	58	53	40
16	26	e32	e29	e29	e26	e31	91	94	196	57	53	43
17	29	e30	e29	e27	e26	e32	88	63	216	55	88	43
18	28	e30	e28	e27	e27	e35	86	46	234	62	106	43
19	24	e29	e29	e27	e28	e34	82	76	248	63	79	42
20	24	e29	e28	e27	e27	e35	81	69	224	66	68	42
21	24	e29	e27	e27	e27	e37	77	59	215	109	70	42
22	32	e30	e27	e27	e27	39	77	56	201	120	65	46
23	28	e30	e27	e28	e27	51	85	59	202	118	67	47
24	23	e28	e27	e28	e26	71	89	97	206	115	70	46
25	26	e30	e37	e27	e24	62	92	171	206	82	72	58
26	29	e29	e37	e27	e24	62	100	201	191	75	70	98
27	30	e31	e26	e27	e25	74	113	e356	135	101	70	78
28	31	e30	e26	e27	e25	60	112	e514	103	80	67	58
29	28	e31	e26	e27	---	51	79	567	93	128	76	58
30	29	e31	e27	e27	---	49	55	e744	88	110	94	59
31	26	---	e27	e27	---	48	---	994	---	72	85	---
TOTAL	1,101	921	917	851	729	1,181	2,213	5,749	9,126	2,467	2,186	1,442
MEAN	35.5	30.7	29.6	27.5	26.0	38.1	73.8	185	304	79.6	70.5	48.1
MAX	68	35	37	29	28	74	113	994	984	128	106	98
MIN	23	28	26	27	24	26	51	46	88	55	53	39
AC-FT	2,180	1,830	1,820	1,690	1,450	2,340	4,390	11,400	18,100	4,890	4,340	2,860
CAL YR 2002   TOTAL 17,360  MEAN 47.6  MAX 215  MIN 23  AC-FT 34,430
WTR YR 2003   TOTAL 28,883  MEAN 79.1  MAX 994  MIN 23  AC-FT 57,290

e Estimated.