Streamflow
Below normalColorado River near Cisco streamflow
Daily mean discharge, Colorado (Upper) basin, Utah
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
- Colorado River near Cisco
- Unit
- cfs
- Calculation
- Daily mean
- Last observation
- Sep 30, 2026
- Update frequency
- Daily
Now 2,590 cfs, 27% below the 5-yr median.
Discharge at Cisco stands at 2,590 cfs, 27% below the 5-year median for late September. Flow rose 16.1% over the month but is down 17.5% compared to a year ago.
| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week over week | 2,590 cfs | 2,640 cfs | -1.9% |
| Month over month | 2,590 cfs | 2,230 cfs | +16.1% |
| Year over year | 2,590 cfs | 3,140 cfs | -17.5% |
| vs 5-yr median | 2,590 cfs | 3,570 cfs | -27.5% |
| Reading | Discharge |
|---|---|
| Lowest on record for this week | 2,510 cfs |
| Median for this week | 3,570 cfs |
| Highest on record for this week | 7,410 cfs |
Previous weeks
Week of Sep 23, 2026
Discharge at Colorado River near Cisco fell to 2,640 cfs, down 25% on the week. Flow climbed 70.3% month over month. The reading sits 30% below the 5-year median.
Week of Sep 15, 2026
Streamflow at Cisco fell to 1,560 cfs, 59% below the 5-year median. The gauge dropped 6.6% over the week and 8.8% over the month. Year-over-year flow is down 58.6%.
Week of Sep 2, 2026
Discharge at the Cisco gauge reads 2,500 cfs, up 51.5% on the week. The flow is 18% below the 5-yr median.
Week of Aug 26, 2026
The Colorado River near Cisco ran at 1,650 cfs, down 25.3% from a year ago and 44% below the 5-year median. Flow declined 12.7% on the month.
About Colorado River near Cisco
USGS gage 09180500 measures the Colorado River near Cisco, Utah, the last mainstem station above the Green River confluence and the standard index of Upper Colorado runoff. Everything above it drains roughly 24,000 square miles of western Colorado and eastern Utah: the headwaters above Grand Junction, the Gunnison, the Dolores, and the transmountain diversions that move Colorado River water east across the Continental Divide to the Front Range before it ever reaches this gage.
Its year is a snowmelt year. Flow is low and stable through the winter, rises steeply in May, peaks in late May or June, and tapers through a long late-summer recession. The timing of that peak matters as much as its height: an early peak usually means the snowpack melted out fast and leaves less water for August. A low season here is the leading edge of a bad year for Lake Powell, because this is the water that fills it.