2000 California Hydrologic Data Report
11433300 MIDDLE FORK AMERICAN RIVER NEAR FORESTHILL, CA.
LOCATION - Lat 39°00'22", long 120°45'35", in NW 1/4 NW 1/4 sec.4, T.13 N., R.11 E., Placer County,
Hydrologic Unit 18020128, Tahoe National Forest, on right bank, 1.6 mi downstream from Oxbow Powerplant,
and 3.3 mi east of Foresthill.
DRAINAGE AREA - 524 mi".
PERIOD OF RECORD - October 1958 to current year. CHEMICAL DATA: Water year 1979. BIOLOGICAL DATA: Water
year 1979.
GAGE - Water-stage recorder. Elevation of gage is 1,070 ft above sea level, from topographic map. Prior
to Oct. 22, 1965, at site 3.2 mi downstream at different datum. Oct. 22, 1965, to Aug. 28, 1985,
at site 400 ft downstream at different datum.
REMARKS - Flow regulated by French Meadows Reservoir, Hell Hole Reservoir, Loon Lake (stations 11427400,
11428700, and 11429350), Stumpy Meadows Lake, usable capacity, 17,500 acre-ft, several smaller reservoirs,
and Oxbow Powerplant (station 11433212). Robbs Peak Powerplant (station 11429300) and Georgetown
Divide Ditch, capacity about 60 ft³/s, divert water out of basin upstream from station. See
schematic diagrams of lower Sacramento River Basin and Middle Fork American and Rubicon River Basins.
COOPERATION - Records provided by Placer County Water Agency, under general supervision of the U.S. Geological
Survey, in connection with a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission project.
EXTREMES FOR PERIOD OF RECORD - Maximum discharge, 310,000 ft³/s, Dec. 23, 1964, gage height, 69.0 ft
from floodmarks, site and datum then in use, caused by overtopping of the partly constructed Hell Hole
Dam on the Rubicon River, from rating curve extended above 28,000 ft³/s on basis of slope-area measurement
at gage height 38.0 ft and slope-conveyance study at gage height 69.0 ft, at site and datum
then in use; next highest peak, 123,000 ft³/s, Jan. 2, 1997, gage height, 29.56 ft, from rating curve
extended above 37,000 ft³/s; minimum, 35 ft³/s, Oct. 10.20, 1961.
DISCHARGE, CUBIC FEET PER SECOND, WATER YEAR OCTOBER 1999 TO SEPTEMBER 2000
DAILY MEAN VALUES
DAY OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP
1 107 764 694 562 1300 2700 1400 954 1040 697 839 650
2 104 642 665 552 1030 2370 1250 1100 1050 579 834 585
3 104 663 622 323 1140 2250 1490 1020 923 550 784 515
4 104 852 704 420 1230 1810 1790 1140 946 544 759 488
5 114 689 475 282 1010 1860 1750 1160 1000 714 588 661
6 118 702 581 114 913 2210 1720 910 1200 980 563 617
7 115 790 590 328 1200 2140 1570 904 1010 622 837 657
8 116 841 664 274 1030 2110 1190 1850 1150 665 756 671
9 115 426 643 287 1210 2160 1070 1630 1220 634 821 552
10 113 732 680 276 1180 2100 1270 1080 1090 878 741 586
11 111 745 395 489 1520 1690 1190 1220 1070 950 768 741
12 107 768 418 287 1650 1630 1120 1350 1090 772 516 719
13 107 548 686 330 2690 1930 1450 1050 1060 706 554 771
14 99 572 654 308 11800 2040 1620 1030 1030 724 795 753
15 114 747 606 571 5490 2110 1250 1200 1190 359 796 740
16 712 705 353 798 3710 2140 892 1380 1180 578 767 494
17 809 709 404 695 2880 2090 1420 1410 1000 695 824 610
18 902 529 329 1590 2430 2180 1480 1450 1170 674 723 866
19 927 556 347 1650 1890 2080 1400 1350 934 665 543 799
20 760 872 481 1430 1730 2210 1270 1230 981 682 562 682
21 852 776 407 1340 1980 2060 1380 993 1010 642 850 502
22 523 746 430 987 1730 1950 873 1290 1010 526 740 333
23 937 618 375 777 2470 1930 972 1280 1030 520 818 178
24 827 616 381 4580 2140 1930 1170 1260 379 879 749 195
25 807 320 660 5120 1930 1610 1300 1050 571 933 781 186
26 658 570 363 2310 1550 1400 1150 1260 831 902 555 143
27 738 166 370 1680 4080 1840 1080 1240 996 882 507 124
28 1070 348 230 1520 3560 1950 1120 1230 911 750 721 114
29 778 618 395 943 2760 1880 844 1230 989 646 723 113
30 951 555 259 1110 --- 1840 554 1220 646 610 777 112
31 793 --- 332 1260 --- 1770 --- 1190 --- 839 799 ---
TOTAL 14692 19185 15193 33193 69233 61970 38035 37661 29707 21797 22390 15157
MEAN 474 640 490 1071 2387 1999 1268 1215 990 703 722 505
MAX 1070 872 704 5120 11800 2700 1790 1850 1220 980 850 866
MIN 99 166 230 114 913 1400 554 904 379 359 507 112
AC-FT 29140 38050 30140 65840 137300 122900 75440 74700 58920 43230 44410 30060
a 23930 32320 20650 30170 54630 64530 48640 55350 51340 37930 39710 23570
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