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 mi2.
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, and several smaller reservoirs.
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 Middle Fork American and Rubicon River basins
and lower Sacramento River basin.
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,
113,000 ft3/s, Feb. 1, 1963, gage height, 38.00 ft, site and datum then in use; minimum, 35 ft3/s, Oct. 10-20,
1961.
DISCHARGE, CUBIC FEET PER SECOND, WATER YEAR OCTOBER 1995 TO SEPTEMBER 1996
DAILY MEAN VALUES
DAY OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP
1 187 806 512 799 1710 2270 2620 1900 1990 966 895 837
2 145 741 567 986 1630 2170 3240 1870 1960 856 734 814
3 136 641 569 859 1350 2240 2820 1810 1870 869 978 616
4 124 835 513 619 8000 3860 2480 1770 1900 828 948 666
5 96 763 682 890 16000 4840 2350 1710 1850 1000 926 921
6 93 767 625 491 6070 3610 2270 1680 1760 1020 938 736
7 95 779 567 543 3810 3180 2260 1660 1720 999 916 585
8 500 728 445 806 3180 2960 2290 1620 1650 950 852 693
9 1060 598 588 1050 2780 2910 2300 1590 1560 1020 880 793
10 1070 257 283 723 2540 2930 2250 1530 1490 916 931 535
11 1080 796 665 604 2380 3470 2140 1670 1430 1000 865 843
12 1080 723 4860 649 2240 3650 2060 2110 1390 999 876 813
13 1080 714 2270 411 2220 3320 2040 2310 1350 917 892 799
14 1080 763 1150 426 2030 3000 1980 2450 1290 1000 953 769
15 1080 774 947 683 2210 2820 1950 4320 1210 854 857 867
16 1080 744 583 1980 2270 2720 2390 23500 1210 937 847 816
17 1020 598 677 2350 2410 2630 2410 13500 1200 948 839 809
18 1140 615 791 1550 2780 2620 2670 15400 1200 979 780 808
19 1080 641 852 2260 5760 2570 2370 6760 1200 951 729 812
20 1080 739 781 1590 7390 2510 2290 4470 1190 839 819 833
21 1080 421 808 1240 6180 2450 2210 3540 1190 866 789 799
22 1080 286 804 1330 4910 2360 2150 4680 1180 942 753 571
23 1080 485 464 1190 4180 2290 2110 3650 1180 958 771 554
24 1080 579 413 1600 3770 2170 2110 3010 1170 975 760 512
25 1080 635 382 3410 3340 2070 2100 2540 1170 854 746 509
26 1080 620 673 1820 3070 1950 2070 2470 1180 934 803 466
27 806 662 722 2950 2820 1940 2080 2420 1200 354 857 608
28 638 589 713 3310 2660 2540 1970 2350 1160 768 885 796
29 850 455 759 2110 2430 2240 1910 2160 443 889 766 520
30 669 579 917 1680 --- 2060 1910 2130 743 764 822 274
31 734 --- 1060 1730 --- 2010 --- 2030 --- 942 884 ---
TOTAL 24483 19333 26642 42639 112120 84360 67800 124610 41036 28094 26291 20974
MEAN 790 644 859 1375 3866 2721 2260 4020 1368 906 848 699
MAX 1140 835 4860 3410 16000 4840 3240 23500 1990 1020 978 921
MIN 93 257 283 411 1350 1940 1910 1530 443 354 729 274
AC-FT 48560 38350 52840 84570 222400 167300 134500 247200 81390 55720 52150 41600
11433300 MIDDLE FORK AMERICAN RIVER NEAR FORESTHILL, CA--Continued
STATISTICS OF MONTHLY MEAN DATA FOR WATER YEARS 1959 - 1996, BY WATER YEAR (WY)
OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP
MEAN 451 649 1091 1500 1819 1845 1777 1566 1007 641 596 511
MAX 1634 2951 7172 5939 8815 5076 5572 4642 3300 1836 1142 1084
(WY) 1963 1984 1965 1980 1986 1983 1982 1963 1983 1983 1983 1983
MIN 54.3 47.1 64.8 85.2 111 240 110 120 124 99.2 47.2 42.8
(WY) 1961 1960 1960 1991 1991 1977 1977 1977 1977 1966 1959 1962
SUMMARY STATISTICS FOR 1995 CALENDAR YEAR FOR 1996 WATER YEAR WATER YEARS 1959 - 1996
ANNUAL TOTAL 795967 618382
ANNUAL MEAN 2181 1690 1118
HIGHEST ANNUAL MEAN 2723 1982
LOWEST ANNUAL MEAN 179 1977
HIGHEST DAILY MEAN 15900 Jan 14 23500 May 16 65000 Dec 23 1964
LOWEST DAILY MEAN 93 Oct 6 93 Oct 6 35 Oct 19 1961
ANNUAL SEVEN-DAY MINIMUM 125 Oct 1 125 Oct 1 38 Oct 14 1961
INSTANTANEOUS PEAK FLOW 37800 May 16 310000 Dec 23 1964
INSTANTANEOUS PEAK STAGE 23.38 May 16 69.00 Dec 23 1964
ANNUAL RUNOFF (AC-FT) 1579000 1227000 809600
10 PERCENT EXCEEDS 3940 2950 2380
50 PERCENT EXCEEDS 1740 1070 727
90 PERCENT EXCEEDS 494 570 93
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