PLATTE RIVER BASIN

06752000 CACHE LA POUDRE RIVER AT MOUTH OF CANYON, NEAR FORT COLLINS, CO

LOCATION.--Lat 40°39'52", long 105°13'26", in NW14 sec.15, T.8 N., R.70 W., Larimer County, Hydrologic Unit 10190007, on left bank at mouth of canyon, 0.5 mi downstream from headgate of Poudre Valley Canal, 1.2 mi upstream from Lewstone Creek, and 9.3 mi northwest of courthouse in Fort Collins.

DRAINAGE AREA.--1,056 mi2.

PERIOD OF RECORD.--June to August 1881, May to July 1883, October 1883 to current year. Monthly discharge only for some periods, published in WSP 1310. Records for March 23 to April 30 and July 4 to August 20, 1883, published in WSP 9, have been found to be unreliable and should not be used. Prior to 1902, published as Cache la Poudre Creek or River at or near Fort Collins. For a complete listing of historical data available for this site, see http://waterdata.usgs.gov/co/nwis/inventory/?site_no=06752000

REVISED RECORDS.--WSP 1310: 1885-87, 1889, 1892, 1894-96, 1934. WSP 1730: 1960, drainage area. See also PERIOD OF RECORD.

GAGE.--Water-stage recorder with satellite telemetry. Elevation of gage is 5,220 ft above NGVD of 1929, from topographic map.

REMARKS.--Records good except for estimated daily discharges, which are poor. Natural flow of stream affected by transbasin and transmountain diversions (see elsewhere in this report), diversions upstream from station for irrigation of about 50,000 acres, most of which is downstream from station, and diversions for municipal use.

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	37	11	32	e21	e21	e21	49	303	3,010	1,080	383	142
2	45	18	29	e24	e22	e18	74	249	2,620	1,050	366	116
3	42	42	21	e22	e20	e16	73	183	2,300	1,030	404	107
4	47	28	23	e22	e13	e19	83	142	2,050	976	431	121
5	45	29	e19	e23	e12	e15	59	124	1,800	885	334	97
6	44	28	e25	e20	e8.8	e21	42	92	1,580	858	306	86
7	44	24	e22	e23	e17	e20	36	70	1,480	782	283	104
8	44	30	e18	e15	e1.6	e25	35	59	1,330	678	239	150
9	46	28	e26	e15	e30	e24	34	62	1,270	649	244	143
10	38	22	e18	e14	e50	e26	37	142	1,420	663	271	133
11	40	15	e25	e5.0	e32	e26	62	122	1,840	651	256	129
12	37	16	e28	e22	e30	31	85	174	1,640	622	277	126
13	36	18	35	e39	e20	30	85	260	1,300	607	293	132
14	24	30	36	e34	e22	32	136	275	1,340	580	266	145
15	14	23	31	e28	e20	36	290	234	1,390	503	201	141
16	25	14	31	e20	e18	35	367	302	1,430	462	185	135
17	25	14	22	e19	e14	38	344	394	1,470	500	216	128
18	21	31	29	e22	e22	45	316	532	1,570	572	264	123
19	19	21	e18	e21	e25	26	283	595	1,650	622	241	113
20	14	19	e26	e21	e18	4.1	256	503	1,580	650	216	95
21	10	29	e19	e21	e19	43	235	490	1,530	576	203	85
22	12	26	e23	e20	e24	57	238	508	1,480	603	153	77
23	16	26	e25	e20	e23	53	283	635	1,480	575	129	80
24	15	28	e21	e26	e15	53	350	920	1,580	551	127	80
25	22	27	e23	e21	e8.6	44	377	1,040	1,580	486	128	78
26	25	35	e21	e23	e47	47	415	1,260	1,440	517	123	75
27	23	e36	e25	e27	e22	62	438	1,270	1,310	611	118	53
28	19	e35	e23	e35	e26	44	514	1,740	1,070	559	113	48
29	21	35	e23	e17	---	35	529	1,980	1,080	511	101	48
30	14	33	e21	e19	---	33	489	2,680	1,110	508	132	47
31	9.3	---	e22	e23	---	48	---	2,720	---	474	141	---
TOTAL	873.3	771	760	682.0	601.0	1,027.1	6,614	20,060	47,730	20,391	7,144	3,137
MEAN	28.2	25.7	24.5	22.0	21.5	33.1	220	647	1,591	658	230	105
MAX	47	42	36	39	50	62	529	2,720	3,010	1,080	431	150
MIN	9.3	11	18	5.0	1.6	4.1	34	59	1,070	462	101	47
AC-FT	1,730	1,530	1,510	1,350	1,190	2,040	13,120	39,790	94,670	40,450	14,170	6,220
STATISTICS OF MONTHLY MEAN DATA FOR WATER YEARS 1881 - 2003, BY WATER YEAR (WY)
MEAN	89.5	61.1	44.5	40.9	43.3	53.2	149	918	1,811	777	326	162
MAX	270	177	125	158	138	149	743	2,807	4,812	2,225	792	443
(WY)	(1943)	(1998)	(1984)	(1984)	(1984)	(1980)	(1900)	(1900)	(1884)	(1983)	(1884)	(1938)
MIN	21.7	8.14	12.6	9.00	10.2	10.6	19.5	160	401	137	61.2	27.3
(WY)	(1995)	(1939)	(1965)	(1930)	(1967)	(1939)	(1991)	(2002)	(2002)	(2002)	(1954)	(2002)

SUMMARY STATISTICS	FOR 2002 CALENDAR YEAR	FOR 2003 WATER YEAR	WATER YEARS 1881 - 2003
ANNUAL TOTAL	31,552.3	109,790.4
ANNUAL MEAN	86.4	301
HIGHEST ANNUAL MEAN			891 1983
LOWEST ANNUAL MEAN			89.5 2002
HIGHEST DAILY MEAN	685 Jun 10	3,010 Jun 1	7,550 Jun 16, 1923
LOWEST DAILY MEAN	9.3 Oct 31	e1.6 Feb 8	a1.6 Nov 20, 1948
ANNUAL SEVEN-DAY MINIMUM	15 Oct 18	e13 Feb 2	3.9 Nov 7, 1938
MAXIMUM PEAK FLOW		3,770 Jun 1	b21,000 Jun 9, 1891
MAXIMUM PEAK STAGE		5.86 Jun 1
ANNUAL RUNOFF (AC-FT)	62,580	217,800
10 PERCENT EXCEEDS	218	1,070	1,170
50 PERCENT EXCEEDS	34	48	88
90 PERCENT EXCEEDS	19	18	24

e Estimated. a Also occurred Nov 28, 1948, caused by diversion of Poudre Valley Canal, 0.5 mi upstream, and Feb 8, 2003 (flow estimated), due to diversions. b Maximum discharge determined, caused by failure of Chambers Lake Dam, from reports of State Engineers Office. A greater discharge, but not determined, occurred May 20, 1904.