PLATTE RIVER BASIN

06754000 SOUTH PLATTE RIVER NEAR KERSEY, CO

LOCATION (REVISED).--Lat 40°24'42", long 104°33'42", in NW14SW14 sec.9, T.5 N., R.64W., Weld County, Hydrologic Unit 10190003, on downstream side of bridge on State Highway 37, 1.9 mi north of railroad in Kersey, and 2.5 mi downstream from Cache la Poudre River.

DRAINAGE AREA.--9,659 mi2 (revised).

PERIOD OF RECORD.--May 1901 to December 1903, March 1905 to current year. Monthly discharge only for some periods, published in WSP 1310. Published as "at Kersey" 1901-03. 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=06754000

REVISED RECORDS.--WSP 1310: 1902, 1906, 1935(M). WSP 1730: Drainage area.

GAGE.--Water-stage recorder with satellite telemetry. Datum of gage is 4,575.77 ft above NGVD of 1929. See WSP 1710 or 1730 for history of changes prior to July 3, 1935.

REMARKS.--Records fair except for estimated daily discharges, which are poor. Natural flow of stream affected by transmountain and transbasin diversions, storage reservoirs, power developments, ground-water withdrawals and diversions for irrigation of about 888,000 acres, and return flow from irrigated areas. Water-quality data has been collected at this site as part of the South Platte River Basin National Water-Quality Assessment Program and is available at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/co/nwis/inventory/?site_no=06754000

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	187	574	482	502	598	586	580	782	4,040	392	224	2,350
2	190	563	476	477	585	604	551	748	4,330	389	199	1,160
3	346	558	476	465	589	624	534	581	3,790	359	194	873
4	492	567	464	477	628	634	502	500	3,050	341	189	808
5	455	583	464	466	674	614	463	429	2,730	268	178	678
6	369	572	450	465	634	618	414	354	2,470	201	173	571
7	322	569	442	466	595	603	392	274	2,200	194	160	509
8	321	566	436	467	593	581	378	218	2,480	221	166	488
9	300	558	437	454	614	546	345	204	1,730	209	161	501
10	293	559	435	444	599	527	337	671	1,190	158	243	469
11	285	561	423	433	604	515	376	e2,880	1,090	159	195	443
12	265	563	430	437	601	507	390	2,440	1,240	159	171	424
13	265	562	444	456	593	499	412	1,620	1,310	160	184	427
14	271	556	440	470	603	481	378	1,150	1,240	155	169	425
15	279	540	440	514	606	449	288	943	1,210	141	156	429
16	297	535	449	510	610	434	366	869	1,210	145	147	422
17	307	537	455	522	620	442	485	1,030	1,200	149	142	411
18	326	535	468	526	582	553	518	845	1,490	144	141	457
19	300	530	454	531	574	e760	486	815	2,520	173	163	470
20	286	526	449	541	563	e820	636	850	2,070	336	195	444
21	280	518	459	539	548	916	600	789	1,730	229	161	439
22	290	515	455	540	536	926	481	678	1,460	184	154	435
23	311	516	456	521	538	1,040	703	538	1,200	171	141	432
24	329	505	449	549	530	e1,440	e1,240	442	1,030	174	137	413
25	346	518	430	552	542	e1,370	e2,400	505	916	163	132	382
26	362	535	410	554	582	e1,090	e1,290	513	871	155	144	357
27	416	552	453	566	587	e1,080	871	587	687	167	142	341
28	391	546	510	583	592	e1,150	711	645	485	184	137	325
29	451	551	513	595	---	e980	602	1,080	370	217	157	301
30	510	515	503	583	---	e820	649	1,660	352	205	307	279
31	596	---	508	591	---	e680	---	2,830	---	290	1,840	---
TOTAL	10,438	16,385	14,160	15,796	16,520	22,889	18,378	28,470	51,691	6,592	7,002	16,463
MEAN	337	546	457	510	590	738	613	918	1,723	213	226	549
MAX	596	583	513	595	674	1,440	2,400	2,880	4,330	392	1,840	2,350
MIN	187	505	410	433	530	434	288	204	352	141	132	279
AC-FT	20,700	32,500	28,090	31,330	32,770	45,400	36,450	56,470	102,500	13,080	13,890	32,650
STATISTICS OF MONTHLY MEAN DATA FOR WATER YEARS 1976 - 2003, BY WATER YEAR (WY)
MEAN	862	930	842	824	840	913	1,046	2,348	3,101	977	795	776
MAX	3,388	2,585	1,337	1,434	1,641	1,852	3,894	13,060	14,520	5,784	2,783	2,079
(WY)	(1985)	(1985)	(1985)	(1984)	(1984)	(1983)	(1983)	(1980)	(1983)	(1983)	(1984)	(1984)
MIN	337	488	457	503	540	473	144	199	113	115	85.5	156
(WY)	(2003)	(1978)	(2003)	(1982)	(1978)	(1982)	(1982)	(2002)	(1977)	(2002)	(2002)	(2002)

SUMMARY STATISTICS	FOR 2002 CALENDAR YEAR	FOR 2003 WATER YEAR	WATER YEARS 1976 - 2003
ANNUAL TOTAL	124,608	224,784
ANNUAL MEAN	341	616	a1,187
HIGHEST ANNUAL MEAN			3,631 1983
LOWEST ANNUAL MEAN			395 2002
HIGHEST DAILY MEAN	1,530 May 25	4,330 Jun 2	b21,500 May 31, 1995
LOWEST DAILY MEAN	57 May 5	132 Aug 25	c57 May 5, 2002
ANNUAL SEVEN-DAY MINIMUM	66 May 3	141 Aug 22	63 Apr 25, 1982
MAXIMUM PEAK FLOW		4,690 Jun 2	d22,900 May 31, 1995
MAXIMUM PEAK STAGE		7.14 Jun 2	f11.00 May 31, 1995
ANNUAL RUNOFF (AC-FT)	247,200	445,900	860,300
10 PERCENT EXCEEDS	622	1,150	1,950
50 PERCENT EXCEEDS	300	501	751
90 PERCENT EXCEEDS	77	182	285

e Estimated. a Average discharge for 71 years (water years 1902-03, 1906-74), 777 ft3/s; 562,900 acre-ft/yr, prior to completion of Chatfield Dam. b Maximum daily discharge for period of record, 31,000 ft3/s, Jun 7, 1921. c Minimum daily discharge for period of record, 28 ft3/s, Apr 30, 1955. d Maximum discharge and stage for period of record, 31,500 ft3/s, May 8, 1973, gage height, 11.73 ft. f Maximum gage height for statistical period, 11.50 ft, May 1, 1999.