DOLORES RIVER BASIN

09172500 SAN MIGUEL RIVER NEAR PLACERVILLE, CO

LOCATION.--Lat 38°02'33", long 108°07'54", in NW14NE14 sec.25, T.44 N., R.12 W., San Miguel County, Hydrologic Unit 14030003, on right bank 1.5 mi downstream from Specie Creek in vicinity of mile marker 88.68 on State Highway 145 and 4.5 mi northwest of Placerville.

DRAINAGE AREA.--310 mi2.

PERIOD OF RECORD.--January to December 1909, September 1910 to November 1912, April 1930 to September 1934, April 1942 to current year. Monthly discharge only for some periods, published in WSP 1313. Published as "at Placerville," 1910-12. Statistical summary computed for 1911 to current year. For a complete listing of historical data available for this site, see http://waterdata.usgs.gov/co/nwis/inventory/?site_no=09172500

GAGE.--Water-stage recorder with satellite telemetry. Elevation of gage is 7,030 ft above NGVD of 1929, from topographic map. See WSP 1713 or 1733 for history of changes prior to Oct. 21, 1958. Oct. 22, 1958 to Mar. 4, 1986, gage located 0.8 mi upstream from present site, at different datum. Mar. 5, 1986, gage moved to present site, at present datum.

REMARKS.-- Records good except for estimated daily discharges, which are poor. Diversions for irrigation of about 1,700 acres upstream from station. One diversion from Fall Creek for irrigation of about 2,000 acres in Beaver and Saltado Creek basins. One small ditch diverts water from Leopard Creek to Uncompahgre River Basin. Slight regulation by Lake Hope and Trout lake operated by the City of Telluride, Public Service Company of Colorado, Pacific Light and Power Company, and Tri State Power Company, combined capacity, 5,040 acre-feet. Several measurements of specific conductance and water temperature were obtained and are published in the "Supplemental Water-Quality Data For Gaging Stations" section of this report.

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	101	82	e60	e44	e47	49	88	244	1,100	263	127	144
2	102	77	e57	e45	e49	46	99	255	1,170	268	105	132
3	120	67	e57	e44	e48	49	93	292	1,080	264	101	128
4	111	70	e55	e43	e48	52	80	316	998	253	106	120
5	108	71	e55	e44	e47	49	79	287	1,010	235	96	105
6	100	75	e52	e43	e48	52	79	253	884	201	89	143
7	101	70	e49	e44	e48	50	77	215	766	190	91	140
8	102	73	e46	e46	e49	49	74	206	700	187	96	136
9	100	88	e44	e45	e52	47	82	191	764	162	80	266
10	97	79	e40	e44	e56	51	114	173	756	150	72	572
11	95	e74	e38	e46	e61	57	160	166	749	144	83	340
12	91	e70	e40	e44	e62	62	188	180	684	135	81	302
13	85	e70	e42	e43	e63	70	214	233	580	116	90	335
14	87	e70	e40	e44	e62	75	278	262	497	121	334	318
15	87	e70	e41	e45	e60	69	253	341	548	110	170	250
16	86	e65	e43	e45	e58	69	191	291	522	110	157	208
17	85	e65	e45	e44	e57	67	222	429	435	114	181	200
18	83	e64	e46	e43	53	68	204	479	392	111	169	181
19	78	e64	e45	e42	55	63	210	481	403	100	149	161
20	74	e67	e45	e43	52	63	199	495	412	92	129	148
21	76	e70	e48	e42	53	65	238	598	381	86	119	141
22	81	e72	e47	e42	53	57	267	704	407	95	121	135
23	88	e72	e46	e41	e52	63	215	874	412	94	130	127
24	87	66	e46	e42	51	77	191	912	372	97	147	119
25	86	66	e45	e43	50	84	234	827	310	99	183	123
26	84	e62	e46	e44	50	83	246	798	316	87	149	126
27	82	e58	e43	e44	50	83	254	1,030	317	78	143	136
28	83	e58	e44	e46	50	71	271	1,220	305	89	166	133
29	79	e58	e45	e46	---	65	269	1,300	277	174	167	130
30	78	e59	e46	e45	---	59	269	1,360	271	113	166	128
31	82	---	e46	e47	---	e73	---	1,300	---	104	160	---
TOTAL	2,799	2,072	1,442	1,363	1,484	1,937	5,438	16,712	17,818	4,442	4,157	5,627
MEAN	90.3	69.1	46.5	44.0	53.0	62.5	181	539	594	143	134	188
MAX	120	88	60	47	63	84	278	1,360	1,170	268	334	572
MIN	74	58	38	41	47	46	74	166	271	78	72	105
AC-FT	5,550	4,110	2,860	2,700	2,940	3,840	10,790	33,150	35,340	8,810	8,250	11,160
STATISTICS OF MONTHLY MEAN DATA FOR WATER YEARS 1911 - 2003, BY WATER YEAR (WY)
MEAN	113	83.8	68.7	63.2	63.0	76.9	233	568	781	439	214	144
MAX	399	138	104	101	94.2	148	593	1,515	1,528	1,197	527	391
(WY)	(1912)	(1985)	(1987)	(1998)	(1987)	(1997)	(1942)	(1958)	(1983)	(1983)	(1999)	(1999)
MIN	50.9	51.4	40.8	38.3	37.1	46.4	79.6	136	150	63.8	56.7	63.8
(WY)	(1957)	(1990)	(1977)	(1977)	(1990)	(1980)	(1951)	(1977)	(2002)	(2002)	(2002)	(1956)

SUMMARY STATISTICS	FOR 2002 CALENDAR YEAR	FOR 2003 WATER YEAR	WATER YEARS 1911 - 2003
ANNUAL TOTAL	33,243	65,291
ANNUAL MEAN	91.1	179	237
HIGHEST ANNUAL MEAN			414 1983
LOWEST ANNUAL MEAN			88.8 1977
HIGHEST DAILY MEAN	354 Sep 11	1,360 May 30	2,740 Jun 21, 1983
LOWEST DAILY MEAN	38 Aug 26	e38 Dec 11	26 Jan 5, 1960
ANNUAL SEVEN-DAY MINIMUM	41 Dec 10	41 Dec 10	31 Dec 25, 1976
MAXIMUM PEAK FLOW		1,680 May 31	a3,830 Jun 24, 1983
MAXIMUM PEAK STAGE		4.84 May 31	b6.20 Jun 24, 1983
ANNUAL RUNOFF (AC-FT)	65,940	129,500	171,400
10 PERCENT EXCEEDS	172	405	634
50 PERCENT EXCEEDS	70	88	104
90 PERCENT EXCEEDS	46	45	56

e Estimated. a Maximum discharge for period of record, 10,000 ft3/s, Sep 5, 1909, gage height not determined; result of failure of Trout and Middle Reservoir Dams. b Maximum gage height for statistical period of record, 8.58 ft, May 24, 1984, site and datum then in use.