RIO GRANDE BASIN

08219500 SOUTH FORK RIO GRANDE AT SOUTH FORK, CO

LOCATION.--Lat 37°39'25", long 106°38'55", in SW14NE14 sec.3, T.39 N., R.3 E., Rio Grande County, Hydrologic Unit 13010001, on left bank near U.S. Highway 160, 0.1 mi downstream from Church Creek, 0.9 mi southwest of village of South Fork, and 1.5 mi upstream from mouth.

DRAINAGE AREA.--216 mi2.

PERIOD OF RECORD.--August 1910 to September 1922, May 1936 to September 1995, and October 1998 to current year. Monthly discharge only for some periods, published in WSP 1312. For a complete listing of historical data available for this site, see http://waterdata.usgs.gov/co/nwis/inventory/?site_no=08219500

REVISED RECORDS.--WSP 898: 1911(M). WSP 1312: 1912, 1944(M). WSP 1632: 1956-58(P).

GAGE.--Water-stage recorder with satellite telemetry. Elevation of gage is 8,221.79 ft above NGVD of 1929. Aug. 9, 1910 to Mar. 28, 1915, nonrecording gage, and Mar. 29, 1915 to Sept. 30, 1922, water-stage recorder, at bridges 1 mi downstream at different datums.

REMARKS.--Records good except for estimated daily discharges, which are poor. Natural flow of stream affected by storage reservoirs, transmountain diversions from Colorado River Basin through Treasure Pass ditch (see elsewhere in this report), diversions for irrigation, and return flows from irrigated areas. Flow slightly regulated by Beaver Creek Reservoir on Beaver Creek, capacity, 4,760 acre-ft, and several other storage reservoirs.

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

EXTREMES OUTSIDE PERIOD OF RECORD.--Flood of Oct. 5, 1911, exceeds all other observed floods at this location since at least 1873. Flood of June 29, 1927, reached a stage about 1 ft lower than that of Oct. 5, 1911, from information by local residents.

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	61	40	e26	e21	e26	e27	58	278	739	73	47	56
2	74	34	e23	e19	e26	e27	73	270	648	72	63	48
3	120	29	e25	e21	e22	e28	65	277	598	66	46	42
4	88	32	e21	e23	e20	e30	60	278	545	61	39	43
5	78	27	e20	e23	e17	e29	58	233	496	58	34	50
6	71	27	e19	e22	e15	e29	55	204	427	56	28	62
7	68	30	e19	e19	e13	e32	52	183	386	56	30	61
8	64	33	e20	e19	e15	e33	e46	174	355	57	33	53
9	61	33	e19	e21	e17	e35	55	154	343	55	37	97
10	56	e26	e18	e22	e18	e36	71	143	317	51	37	325
11	52	e23	e19	e22	e21	e38	93	145	296	47	40	192
12	52	e22	e21	e18	e25	e38	106	203	271	47	40	139
13	54	e27	e21	e19	e29	e39	109	281	251	47	43	121
14	46	e28	e20	e21	e29	e39	143	317	220	44	36	106
15	42	e25	e23	e23	e27	e40	177	428	206	42	35	88
16	40	e21	e23	e21	e27	e39	144	443	215	44	34	67
17	38	e27	e23	e20	e30	e37	142	590	197	50	32	62
18	38	e29	e18	e19	e28	e35	133	703	194	48	35	55
19	36	e28	e16	e20	e26	e37	118	685	199	47	39	51
20	36	e30	e16	e20	e27	e37	97	669	196	52	36	48
21	35	e30	e18	e21	e29	37	101	686	174	50	33	47
22	34	e28	e16	e21	e28	38	107	759	158	47	37	45
23	37	e30	e18	e23	e28	43	102	779	145	55	50	43
24	39	e30	e16	e24	e30	51	96	759	123	56	54	42
25	36	e28	e15	e23	e30	55	114	706	107	49	e63	40
26	38	e23	e14	e21	e29	55	151	650	93	46	78	38
27	43	e23	e17	e23	e28	52	197	699	87	48	76	49
28	39	e24	e18	e22	e29	48	256	765	82	51	72	59
29	45	e27	e20	e21	---	e39	295	826	77	57	78	44
30	41	e26	e19	e23	---	45	315	819	74	56	71	44
31	48	---	e19	e24	---	47	---	819	---	49	68	---
TOTAL	1,610	840	600	659	689	1,195	3,589	14,925	8,219	1,637	1,444	2,217
MEAN	51.9	28.0	19.4	21.3	24.6	38.5	120	481	274	52.8	46.6	73.9
MAX	120	40	26	24	30	55	315	826	739	73	78	325
MIN	34	21	14	18	13	27	46	143	74	42	28	38
AC-FT	3,190	1,670	1,190	1,310	1,370	2,370	7,120	29,600	16,300	3,250	2,860	4,400
STATISTICS OF MONTHLY MEAN DATA FOR WATER YEARS 1910 - 2003, BY WATER YEAR (WY)
MEAN	90.4	57.4	43.4	37.3	40.2	63.0	215	687	817	252	111	86.2
MAX	569	152	106	88.6	78.3	131	479	1,282	1,746	794	264	358
(WY)	(1912)	(1987)	(1912)	(1986)	(1986)	(1989)	(1962)	(1984)	(1979)	(1957)	(1957)	(1970)
MIN	32.1	23.9	18.0	13.6	18.2	21.5	85.2	136	51.0	28.8	22.7	23.6
(WY)	(1956)	(1961)	(1977)	(1977)	(1955)	(1955)	(1955)	(2002)	(2002)	(2002)	(2002)	(1956)

SUMMARY STATISTICS	FOR 2002 CALENDAR YEAR	FOR 2003 WATER YEAR	WATER YEARS 1910 - 2003
ANNUAL TOTAL	18,153	37,624
ANNUAL MEAN	49.7	103	209
HIGHEST ANNUAL MEAN			359 1985
LOWEST ANNUAL MEAN			48.9 2002
HIGHEST DAILY MEAN	194 Apr 15	826 May 29	2,980 May 24, 1984
LOWEST DAILY MEAN	13 Aug 15	e13 Feb 7	10 Jan 6, 1977
ANNUAL SEVEN-DAY MINIMUM	14 Aug 13	e16 Dec 20	11 Dec 31, 1976
MAXIMUM PEAK FLOW		916 May 30	a8,000 Oct 5, 1911
MAXIMUM PEAK STAGE		4.13 May 30	b9.70 Oct 5, 1911
ANNUAL RUNOFF (AC-FT)	36,010	74,630	151,600
10 PERCENT EXCEEDS	126	273	605
50 PERCENT EXCEEDS	31	43	70
90 PERCENT EXCEEDS	19	20	32

e Estimated. a Present site and datum, from rating curve extended above 1,500 ft3/s. b From floodmarks.