ROARING FORK RIVER BASIN

09073300 ROARING FORK RIVER ABOVE DIFFICULT CREEK NEAR ASPEN, CO

LOCATION.--Lat 39°08'28", long 106°46'25", Pitkin County, Hydrologic Unit 14010004, on left bank in the White River National Forest at Difficult Creek Campground, 0.45 mi upstream from Difficult Creek, and 4.25 mi southeast of Aspen.

DRAINAGE AREA.--75.8 mi2.

WATER-DISCHARGE RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD.--October 1979 to current year. For a complete listing of historical data available for this site, see http://waterdata.usgs.gov/co/nwis/inventory/?site_no=09073300

GAGE.--Water-stage recorder with satellite telemetry. Elevation of gage is 8,120 ft above NGVD of 1929, from topographic map.

REMARKS.--Records fair except for estimated daily discharges, which are poor. Transmountain diversion 11 mi upstream through Twin Lakes Tunnel to Arkansas River basin since May 24, 1935 (45,240 acre-ft diverted during current year, provided by Colorado Division of Water Resources).

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	25	14	12	11	10	9.7	13	35	385	68	21	20
2	21	13	12	11	11	e9.2	14	33	216	67	22	19
3	19	12	11	11	10	e9.4	14	31	186	63	22	20
4	18	12	11	11	e10	10	14	31	187	55	23	20
5	18	11	12	11	e10	10	13	28	169	55	22	19
6	16	9.1	11	11	e7.8	e9.4	13	26	147	52	21	20
7	15	11	12	10	e7.6	10	13	26	129	49	21	26
8	16	12	11	11	e8.8	10	e12	27	132	47	36	26
9	15	11	e9.4	10	e9.8	9.8	13	25	133	43	34	25
10	15	10	e9.0	11	e10	9.9	16	26	141	42	34	28
11	14	11	e9.6	11	10	11	19	25	139	40	32	28
12	14	13	11	10	9.9	11	21	29	130	38	35	26
13	14	12	11	10	10	11	22	37	136	35	35	25
14	14	13	11	11	10	12	27	43	133	34	34	24
15	13	12	11	11	9.9	12	28	58	134	33	33	24
16	13	e11	11	e8.6	9.7	12	25	76	129	32	33	22
17	13	12	11	11	10	11	27	101	121	31	37	24
18	13	12	11	e8.4	10	11	27	107	119	29	40	37
19	13	e11	11	e9.8	9.5	11	25	103	124	28	38	48
20	13	12	e8.4	10	9.6	11	24	100	117	26	21	43
21	13	12	11	10	10	11	25	104	111	27	19	36
22	13	12	e8.8	10	10	11	26	120	105	25	19	35
23	13	12	e7.4	10	9.6	11	25	136	99	24	20	33
24	13	12	e9.6	10	10	12	22	146	91	25	19	32
25	13	12	e10	10	10	12	24	167	85	23	19	33
26	13	e10	e9.8	10	10	12	28	172	80	26	23	30
27	14	e9.0	e10	10	9.9	11	32	225	77	45	30	28
28	14	e10	11	10	9.8	e11	35	292	73	28	22	27
29	13	12	11	9.9	---	e10	39	529	69	26	21	27
30	13	12	11	10	---	e11	38	571	66	22	21	26
31	14	---	11	10	---	12	---	401	---	22	21	---
TOTAL	458	347.1	327.0	318.7	272.9	334.4	674	3,830	3,963	1,160	828	831
MEAN	14.8	11.6	10.5	10.3	9.75	10.8	22.5	124	132	37.4	26.7	27.7
MAX	25	14	12	11	11	12	39	571	385	68	40	48
MIN	13	9.0	7.4	8.4	7.6	9.2	12	25	66	22	19	19
AC-FT	908	688	649	632	541	663	1,340	7,600	7,860	2,300	1,640	1,650
STATISTICS OF MONTHLY MEAN DATA FOR WATER YEARS 1980 - 2003, BY WATER YEAR (WY)
MEAN	29.4	21.6	17.2	15.1	14.3	15.8	31.1	139	361	164	57.9	38.6
MAX	53.3	43.3	31.0	24.4	21.1	24.4	53.8	512	939	872	145	83.7
(WY)	(1987)	(1985)	(1985)	(1985)	(1998)	(1997)	(1985)	(1984)	(1984)	(1995)	(1995)	(1986)
MIN	14.8	11.6	10.5	10.3	9.75	9.60	14.9	57.4	55.9	33.8	18.1	17.7
(WY)	(2003)	(2003)	(2003)	(2003)	(2003)	(1981)	(1983)	(1995)	(2002)	(2001)	(2002)	(1981)

SUMMARY STATISTICS	FOR 2002 CALENDAR YEAR	FOR 2003 WATER YEAR	WATER YEARS 1980 - 2003
ANNUAL TOTAL	9,344.9	13,344.1
ANNUAL MEAN	25.6	36.6	a126
HIGHEST ANNUAL MEAN			194 1984
LOWEST ANNUAL MEAN			26.8 2002
HIGHEST DAILY MEAN	100 May 31	571 May 30	1,930 Jun 8, 1985
LOWEST DAILY MEAN	e7.4 Dec 23	e7.4 Dec 23	e7.4 Dec 23, 2002
ANNUAL SEVEN-DAY MINIMUM	9.3 Dec 20	9.1 Feb 6	9.1 Feb 6, 2003
MAXIMUM PEAK FLOW		942 May 29	b2,350 Jun 8, 1985
MAXIMUM PEAK STAGE		3.89 May 29	5.10 Jun 8, 1985
ANNUAL RUNOFF (AC-FT)	18,540	26,470	a91,290
10 PERCENT EXCEEDS	59	100	164
50 PERCENT EXCEEDS	14	15	27
90 PERCENT EXCEEDS	11	10	12

e Estimated. a Includes Twin Lakes Tunnel diversions. b From rating curve extended above 910 ft3/s.