Streamflow
Near normalAmerican River at Fair Oaks streamflow
Daily mean discharge, American-Sacramento basin, California
Data through Sep 30, 2026 · source last checked Oct 1, 2026 · page revised Oct 1, 2026
Cite
- Discharge
About this data
- Source
- US Geological Survey (USGS)
- Series
- Daily mean streamflow (discharge)
- Geography
- American River at Fair Oaks
- Unit
- cfs
- Calculation
- Daily mean
- Last observation
- Sep 30, 2026
- Update frequency
- Daily
Now 1,830 cfs, 4% above the 5-yr median.
American River at Fair Oaks ran at 1,830 cfs, 4% above the 5-year median. The gauge dropped 27.4% month over month, from 2,520 cfs. Week over week and year over year showed minimal movement, each up 0.5%.
| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week over week | 1,830 cfs | 1,820 cfs | +0.5% |
| Month over month | 1,830 cfs | 2,520 cfs | -27.4% |
| Year over year | 1,830 cfs | 1,820 cfs | +0.5% |
| vs 5-yr median | 1,830 cfs | 1,760 cfs | +4.0% |
| Reading | Discharge |
|---|---|
| Lowest on record for this week | 520 cfs |
| Median for this week | 1,760 cfs |
| Highest on record for this week | 2,980 cfs |
Previous weeks
Week of Sep 23, 2026
American River at Fair Oaks is running at 1,820 cfs, 2% above the 5-year median. Flow has dropped 48.6% from a month ago, a typical late-September decline, and is down 1.6% on the week. Year over year, discharge is up 5.2%.
Week of Sep 15, 2026
American River at Fair Oaks recorded 1,860 cfs, 5% above the 5-year median. Flow fell 27.6% over the week and 58.3% from a month ago, typical of late-summer decline. The gauge stands 5.7% above last year.
Week of Sep 2, 2026
Discharge at American River Fair Oaks fell to 2,510 cfs, down 28.7% from the prior week. The gauge is running 11% above the 5-yr median. Year over year, flows are up 42.6%.
Week of Aug 26, 2026
Discharge at Fair Oaks is 3,520 cfs, down 21.8% on the week. Flow sits 35% above the 5-year median and is 97.8% higher than last year, though it has fallen 29.3% on the month.
About American River at Fair Oaks
USGS gage 11446500 sits on the American River at Fair Oaks, below Nimbus Dam and the Folsom Dam complex behind it, in the Sacramento suburbs a few miles above the confluence with the mainstem Sacramento. Nearly everything it measures is a release decision: the American's roughly 1,900-square-mile drainage on the Sierra's west slope is captured at Folsom, and Nimbus regulates what leaves. Folsom carries a large flood-control reservation through the winter, so a share of the basin's runoff is passed through rather than stored.
The result is a year with sharp winter release peaks, a spring shaped by snowmelt filling Folsom behind the dam, and a summer floor set by minimum flow and temperature requirements for fall-run chinook rather than by hydrology. A summer reading at the low end of its range usually means Folsom is protecting storage and a cold-water pool; a winter surge means flood space is being recovered.