RIO GRANDE BASIN

08220000 RIO GRANDE NEAR DEL NORTE, CO

LOCATION.--Lat 37°41'22", long 106°27'38", in NW14NW14 (revised) sec.29, T.40 N., R.5 E., Rio Grande County, Hydrologic Unit 13010001, on right bank 20 ft downstream from county highway bridge, 5.0 mi upstream from Pinos Creek, and 6.0 mi west of Del Norte.

DRAINAGE AREA.--1,320 mi2, approximately.

PERIOD OF RECORD.--June 1889 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=08220000

REVISED RECORDS.--WSP 763: Drainage area. WSP 1312: 1889, 1901, 1913-14 (monthly discharge and runoff).

GAGE.--Water-stage recorder with satellite telemetry. Datum of gage is 7,980.25 ft above NGVD of 1929. Prior to May 16, 1908, nonrecording gage at site
4 mi downstream at different datum. May 16, 1908 to Nov. 8, 1910, nonrecording gages on bridge at present site and datum.

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 (see elsewhere in this report), diversions for irrigation and municipal use, ground-water withdrawals, return flows from irrigated areas, and flows from sewage-treatment plants. Flow regulated by Beaver Creek Reservoir since 1910, Santa Maria Reservoir since 1912, Rio Grande Reservoir since 1912, and Continental Reservoir since 1925, combined capacity, 126,100 acre-ft, and by several smaller reservoirs.

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

EXTREMES OUTSIDE PERIOD OF RECORD.--Maximum stage of Oct. 5, 1911, is the greatest since at least 1873, from information obtained from local residents in 1959.

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	216	166	e114	e110	e130	e110	178	799	3,080	368	289	345
2	263	176	e110	e100	e130	e120	221	748	2,920	345	257	295
3	321	159	e110	e110	e120	e130	233	742	2,790	313	224	258
4	314	149	e105	e110	e110	e140	210	755	2,590	287	204	267
5	293	145	101	e110	e100	e130	202	696	2,420	263	195	267
6	257	120	e95	e100	e100	e130	185	663	2,220	241	178	272
7	249	110	e90	e100	e90	134	169	630	2,020	222	175	279
8	249	128	e95	e100	e90	138	152	571	1,790	217	181	259
9	250	145	e95	e110	e100	146	166	516	1,720	211	193	274
10	229	145	e95	e110	e100	151	198	473	1,630	252	195	822
11	226	110	e100	e100	e110	159	259	435	1,260	286	199	849
12	222	88	e100	e100	e110	173	305	465	1,110	299	206	824
13	216	109	e100	e100	e130	184	330	686	1,030	302	223	741
14	198	146	e100	e110	e130	192	396	958	925	304	205	687
15	190	135	e100	e110	e120	199	531	1,270	855	271	190	617
16	192	90	e110	e110	e120	205	510	1,350	845	215	191	564
17	187	116	e110	e100	e130	185	502	1,840	795	205	202	517
18	189	131	e100	e100	e120	153	468	2,090	743	205	207	482
19	195	124	e100	e110	e110	143	388	2,360	735	185	207	470
20	192	124	e90	e110	e110	148	318	2,570	754	201	195	430
21	187	138	e100	e120	e120	201	308	2,550	762	218	172	392
22	185	129	e95	e120	e120	194	351	2,970	717	216	171	368
23	187	130	e100	e120	e110	187	358	3,430	638	211	185	340
24	195	129	e95	e130	e120	195	344	3,480	571	235	218	311
25	196	138	e90	e130	e130	190	384	3,250	518	220	228	294
26	199	117	e90	e120	e130	186	458	3,150	473	211	283	277
27	218	e92	e90	e130	e130	176	567	3,270	437	227	321	279
28	185	e92	e95	e130	e130	157	691	3,120	397	241	323	287
29	165	e108	e100	e120	---	132	897	3,260	376	251	401	251
30	154	e114	e100	e120	---	142	910	3,180	371	301	401	238
31	154	---	e100	e130	---	163	---	3,190	---	305	386	---
TOTAL	6,673	3,803	3,075	3,480	3,250	4,993	11,189	55,467	37,492	7,828	7,205	12,556
MEAN	215	127	99.2	112	116	161	373	1,789	1,250	253	232	419
MAX	321	176	114	130	130	205	910	3,480	3,080	368	401	849
MIN	154	88	90	100	90	110	152	435	371	185	171	238
AC-FT	13,240	7,540	6,100	6,900	6,450	9,900	22,190	110,000	74,370	15,530	14,290	24,900
STATISTICS OF MONTHLY MEAN DATA FOR WATER YEARS 1890 - 2003, BY WATER YEAR (WY)
MEAN	483	284	205	188	195	271	762	2,505	3,109	1,410	783	512
MAX	2,451	804	420	340	300	646	1,999	4,449	6,240	3,451	1,800	2,001
(WY)	(1912)	(1917)	(1926)	(1912)	(1928)	(1910)	(1895)	(1922)	(1921)	(1957)	(1999)	(1927)
MIN	134	114	99.2	89.8	111	153	317	505	222	142	117	135
(WY)	(1957)	(1957)	(2003)	(1977)	(1977)	(1965)	(1951)	(2002)	(2002)	(2002)	(2002)	(1956)

SUMMARY STATISTICS	FOR 2002 CALENDAR YEAR	FOR 2003 WATER YEAR	WATER YEARS 1890 - 2003
ANNUAL TOTAL	77,719	157,011
ANNUAL MEAN	213	430	897
HIGHEST ANNUAL MEAN			1,482 1987
LOWEST ANNUAL MEAN			227 2002
HIGHEST DAILY MEAN	671 May 20	3,480 May 24	14,000 Oct 6, 1911
LOWEST DAILY MEAN	88 Aug 16	88 Nov 12	69 Aug. 21, 1902
ANNUAL SEVEN-DAY MINIMUM	92 Aug 14	94 Dec 22	76 Dec 29, 1976
MAXIMUM PEAK FLOW		3,780 May 23	a18,000 Oct 5, 1911
MAXIMUM PEAK STAGE		3.77 May 23	6.80 Oct 5, 1911
ANNUAL RUNOFF (AC-FT)	154,200	311,400	650,000
10 PERCENT EXCEEDS	449	847	2,460
50 PERCENT EXCEEDS	160	198	359
90 PERCENT EXCEEDS	100	100	165

e Estimated. a From rating curve extended above 12,900 ft3/s.