DOLORES RIVER BASIN

09169500 DOLORES RIVER AT BEDROCK, CO

LOCATION.--Lat 38°18'37", long 108°53'05", in NW14SW14 sec.20, T.47 N., R.18 W., Montrose County, Hydrologic Unit 14030002, on right bank at upstream side of bridge, 0.4 mi southeast of Bedrock, and 3.1 mi upstream from East Paradox Creek.

DRAINAGE AREA.--2,024 mi2.

WATER-DISCHARGE RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD.--October 1917 to September 1922 (monthly discharge only for some periods, published in WSP 1313), August 1971 to current year. Statistical summary computed for 1985 to current year. For a complete listing of historical data available for this site, see http://waterdata.usgs.gov/co/nwis/inventory/?site_no=09169500

GAGE.--Water-stage recorder with satellite telemetry. Elevation of gage is 4,940 ft above NGVD of 1929, from topographic map. Prior to Aug. 1, 1971, nonrecording gage at different datum.

REMARKS.--Records fair except those for Apr. 13-23 and estimated daily discharges, which are poor. Diversions upstream from station for irrigation of about 5,000 acres upstream from station, and about 74,760 acres in the San Juan River basin. Flow regulated since Mar. 19, 1984, by McPhee Reservoir, capacity 381,000 acre-ft.

EXTREMES OUTSIDE PERIOD OF RECORD.--Flood of Sept. 6, 1970, reached a stage of 7.15 ft, present datum, from floodmarks (discharge not determined).

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	7.4	22	e19	e22	24	36	60	51	37	18	32	44
2	8.0	18	e19	e22	23	32	71	47	40	17	31	21
3	25	17	e19	e22	e23	29	161	46	33	18	101	14
4	80	17	e19	e22	e23	28	148	45	26	17	122	12
5	64	15	e20	e22	e23	24	116	43	22	17	33	64
6	29	15	e20	e22	e23	24	93	42	19	18	19	47
7	21	15	e20	e22	e22	25	102	40	16	18	17	84
8	17	15	e19	e22	e22	24	93	35	15	17	14	40
9	14	124	e17	e22	e23	24	79	32	13	16	11	61
10	12	271	e18	22	e23	24	72	29	12	16	13	1,140
11	11	56	e19	e22	e25	25	203	28	11	16	8.4	655
12	9.6	34	e19	e22	e29	30	316	26	12	16	9.7	103
13	9.3	28	e19	e22	36	31	323	24	12	16	9.8	50
14	9.7	26	e20	e22	79	40	216	23	12	16	24	31
15	10	23	e21	e22	143	59	209	34	11	16	28	23
16	10	e22	e21	e22	93	57	167	45	10	16	105	19
17	10	e21	e21	e22	68	62	153	50	10	16	282	15
18	10	e23	e22	e23	60	61	116	50	11	16	93	13
19	10	22	e22	e23	48	80	106	58	13	15	48	12
20	9.6	21	e22	e23	39	69	89	54	14	16	107	12
21	10	21	e22	e23	32	56	75	51	12	19	34	12
22	11	21	e22	e23	29	44	70	46	9.5	16	43	12
23	11	22	e22	e23	25	39	61	46	7.9	15	30	12
24	12	22	22	e23	24	39	61	45	6.4	16	33	13
25	22	22	22	21	27	43	62	47	6.4	30	24	13
26	33	e22	e22	e21	28	79	60	44	12	26	28	13
27	46	e19	e22	21	29	115	52	41	19	19	19	13
28	145	e19	e22	e21	34	125	52	e39	19	19	17	13
29	61	e19	e22	e21	---	105	61	36	18	32	16	13
30	31	e19	e22	e22	---	83	61	36	19	33	14	13
31	32	---	e22	23	---	69	---	37	---	39	14	---
TOTAL	790.6	1,011	638	685	1,077	1,581	3,508	1,270	478.2	595	1,379.9	2,587
MEAN	25.5	33.7	20.6	22.1	38.5	51.0	117	41.0	15.9	19.2	44.5	86.2
MAX	145	271	22	23	143	125	323	58	40	39	282	1,140
MIN	7.4	15	17	21	22	24	52	23	6.4	15	8.4	12
AC-FT	1,570	2,010	1,270	1,360	2,140	3,140	6,960	2,520	949	1,180	2,740	5,130
STATISTICS OF MONTHLY MEAN DATA FOR WATER YEARS 1985 - 2003, BY WATER YEAR (WY)
MEAN	84.1	80.8	65.7	65.1	74.4	220	828	1,186	620	135	94.2	96.2
MAX	257	399	254	198	181	774	2,551	3,243	1,794	626	242	332
(WY)	(1987)	(1987)	(1987)	(1985)	(1987)	(1985)	(1993)	(1993)	(1995)	(1995)	(1987)	(1999)
MIN	25.5	33.7	20.6	22.1	38.5	40.5	27.6	18.4	3.69	2.25	2.22	42.5
(WY)	(2003)	(2003)	(2003)	(2003)	(2003)	(2002)	(1990)	(2002)	(2002)	(2002)	(2002)	(2000)

SUMMARY STATISTICS	FOR 2002 CALENDAR YEAR	FOR 2003 WATER YEAR	WATER YEARS 1985 - 2003
ANNUAL TOTAL	9,126.4	15,600.7
ANNUAL MEAN	25.0	42.7	a296
HIGHEST ANNUAL MEAN			724 1993
LOWEST ANNUAL MEAN			28.8 2002
HIGHEST DAILY MEAN	388 Sep 12	1,140 Sep 10	4,690 May 5, 1986
LOWEST DAILY MEAN	1.4 Aug 19	6.4 Jun 24	b1.4 Aug 19, 2002
ANNUAL SEVEN-DAY MINIMUM	1.7 Jul 9	9.7 Jun 20	1.7 Jul 9, 2002
MAXIMUM PEAK FLOW		3,290 Sep 10	c5,230 May 5, 1986
MAXIMUM PEAK STAGE		7.56 Sep 10	9.12 May 5, 1986
ANNUAL RUNOFF (AC-FT)	18,100	30,940	214,600
10 PERCENT EXCEEDS	40	80	945
50 PERCENT EXCEEDS	21	23	71
90 PERCENT EXCEEDS	2.1	12	33

e Estimated. a Average discharge for 17 years (water years 1918-22, 1972-83), 497 ft3/s; 36,0100 acre-ft/yr, prior to completion of McPhee Reservoir. b Minimum daily discharge for period of record, no flow, Sep 13, 1974, Aug 15-18, 1978. c Maximum discharge and stage for period of record, 9,280 ft3/s, Apr 30, 1973, gage height, 12.09 ft, from floodmarks.