ARKANSAS RIVER BASIN

07124000 ARKANSAS RIVER AT LAS ANIMAS, CO

LOCATION.--Lat 38°04'51", long 103°13'09", in SE14NE14 sec.3, T.23 S., R.52 W., Bent County, Hydrologic Unit 11020009, on right bank at upstream side of bridge on U.S. Highway 50, 1.1 mi north of courthouse in Las Animas, and 4.2 mi upstream from Purgatoire River.

DRAINAGE AREA.--14,417 mi2, of which 441 mi2 are probably noncontributing.

WATER-DISCHARGE RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD.--May to November 1898 (gage heights only), August to November 1909 (gage heights and discharge measurements only), May 1939 to current year. Statistical summary computed for 1975 to current year, subsequent to partial regulation by Pueblo Reservoir. For a complete listing of historical data available for this site, see http://waterdata.usgs.gov/co/nwis/inventory/?site_no=07124000

REVISED RECORDS.--WSP 1341: Drainage area.

GAGE.--Water-stage recorder with satellite telemetry. Datum of gage is 3,883.97 ft above NGVD of 1929. May 13 to Nov. 12, 1898, and Aug. 1 to Nov. 10, 1909, nonrecording gages near present site at different datums. May 23, 1939 to Apr. 27, 1967, water-stage recorder at site 0.4 mi downstream at datum 9.00 ft lower.

REMARKS.--Records good except for estimated daily discharges, which are poor. Natural flow of stream affected by storage reservoirs, power developments, transbasin and transmountain diversions, diversions for irrigation and municipal use, ground-water withdrawals, return flows from irrigated areas, and flows from sewage-treatment plants. Flow partly regulated by Pueblo Reservoir (station 07099350) about 104 mi upstream since Jan. 9, 1974.

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	15	14	77	e80	75	80	15	12	505	697	99	50
2	17	14	76	e85	71	73	15	13	437	433	90	53
3	16	13	73	87	71	69	14	12	439	349	69	69
4	16	13	73	80	71	67	13	11	877	273	51	56
5	16	13	72	77	76	65	13	11	1,090	231	45	53
6	16	14	77	73	77	64	15	12	940	221	37	61
7	16	12	83	70	e70	77	14	12	736	187	31	58
8	16	12	83	72	e65	83	15	11	567	157	31	57
9	15	12	84	e75	64	84	15	11	237	131	44	55
10	15	12	87	e75	71	83	14	11	525	109	52	44
11	13	12	85	e74	90	84	14	11	682	94	65	17
12	13	12	83	73	92	83	15	11	681	77	61	19
13	13	12	83	75	80	81	14	14	693	65	45	37
14	13	13	81	83	74	78	14	11	723	53	45	51
15	12	28	77	84	71	67	14	19	693	52	39	56
16	13	34	76	e75	68	35	14	21	625	46	37	52
17	13	30	76	69	65	46	14	18	613	42	36	38
18	13	28	75	e68	66	30	13	15	595	41	36	38
19	12	51	71	e66	82	30	15	17	569	33	37	50
20	12	62	e65	66	86	27	15	24	414	24	37	53
21	12	64	e65	66	77	26	15	16	425	20	37	51
22	13	62	e63	e65	67	24	14	14	596	22	37	50
23	13	60	e60	e60	63	23	16	17	465	51	36	50
24	13	63	e63	e65	e62	21	25	20	506	80	36	48
25	13	65	e65	e75	e60	20	15	20	463	53	35	48
26	13	64	e65	e80	e62	18	15	27	512	41	39	46
27	15	64	e67	90	65	17	14	51	560	64	41	36
28	14	64	e70	93	91	17	14	41	511	82	40	35
29	13	69	e75	88	---	16	14	82	480	79	41	40
30	14	74	e80	82	---	16	12	139	545	64	45	40
31	14	---	e75	77	---	16	---	251	---	159	49	---
TOTAL	432	1,060	2,305	2,348	2,032	1,520	439	955	17,704	4,030	1,423	1,411
MEAN	13.9	35.3	74.4	75.7	72.6	49.0	14.6	30.8	590	130	45.9	47.0
MAX	17	74	87	93	92	84	25	251	1,090	697	99	69
MIN	12	12	60	60	60	16	12	11	237	20	31	17
AC-FT	857	2,100	4,570	4,660	4,030	3,010	871	1,890	35,120	7,990	2,820	2,800
STATISTICS OF MONTHLY MEAN DATA FOR WATER YEARS 1975 - 2003, BY WATER YEAR (WY)
MEAN	153	145	142	183	190	119	123	562	855	465	295	108
MAX	1,092	810	398	641	761	422	877	4,043	4,263	3,339	1,343	373
(WY)	(1985)	(1998)	(1998)	(1998)	(1985)	(1998)	(1987)	(1999)	(1995)	(1995)	(1999)	(1984)
MIN	5.13	6.05	8.40	8.45	18.5	9.44	10.8	14.1	16.8	10.0	14.5	9.12
(WY)	(1978)	(1975)	(1978)	(1978)	(1978)	(1975)	(1978)	(1981)	(2002)	(2002)	(2002)	(1977)

SUMMARY STATISTICS	FOR 2002 CALENDAR YEAR	FOR 2003 WATER YEAR	WATER YEARS 1975 - 2003
ANNUAL TOTAL	16,201.7	35,659
ANNUAL MEAN	44.4	97.7	a279
HIGHEST ANNUAL MEAN			841 1995
LOWEST ANNUAL MEAN			59.8 2002
HIGHEST DAILY MEAN	222 Jan 5	1,090 Jun 5	b22,600 May 3, 1999
LOWEST DAILY MEAN	7.5 Aug 17	11 May 4	c3.0 Nov 30, 1974
ANNUAL SEVEN-DAY MINIMUM	7.8 Aug 12	11 May 4	4.1 Sep 26, 1977
MAXIMUM PEAK FLOW		1,220 Jun 5	d32,900 May 2, 1999
MAXIMUM PEAK STAGE		8.03 Jun 5	f14.02 May 2, 1999
ANNUAL RUNOFF (AC-FT)	32,140	70,730	201,800
10 PERCENT EXCEEDS	114	225	554
50 PERCENT EXCEEDS	21	53	112
90 PERCENT EXCEEDS	9.4	13	16

e Estimated. a Average discharge for 34 years (water years 1940-73), 203 ft3/s; 147,100 acre-ft/yr, prior to completion of Pueblo Dam. b Maximum daily discharge for period of record, 25,800 ft3/s, May 20, 1955. c Minimum daily discharge for period of record, 0.9 ft3/s, Jul 31, Aug 1 and 3, 1964. d From rating curve extended above 21,600 ft3/s; maximum discharge and stage for period of record, 44,000 ft3/s, May 20, 1955, gage height, 15.03 ft, from current-meter measurement and slope-area measurement of over-flow channel, site and datum then in use. f From floodmark.