Rio Grande at Otowi Bridge streamflow

Daily mean discharge, Rio Grande basin, New Mexico

Data through Sep 9, 2026 · source last checked Sep 10, 2026 · page revised Sep 10, 2026

Cite

Rio Grande at Otowi Bridge: 161 cfs daily mean discharge as of Sep 9, 2026 (USGS). The Waterline. https://the-waterline.com/streamflow/rio-grande-at-otowi-bridge

cfs

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<p style="font-size:12px;margin:4px 0 0">Source: <a href="https://the-waterline.com/streamflow/rio-grande-at-otowi-bridge?utm_source=embed&utm_medium=credit">The Waterline</a> · updates automatically</p>
<p style="font-size:11px;color:#6b6b6b;margin:2px 0 0">About this data: US Geological Survey (USGS) · Daily mean streamflow (discharge) · Rio Grande at Otowi Bridge · cfs · Daily mean · through Sep 9, 2026</p>

Free to republish with attribution. The chart updates automatically as new data lands.

About this data

Source: US Geological Survey (USGS)
Series: Daily mean streamflow (discharge)
Geography: Rio Grande at Otowi Bridge
Unit: cfs
Calculation: Daily mean
Last observation: Sep 9, 2026
Update frequency: Daily

Now 161 cfs, 59% below the 5-yr median.

The numbers
Period	Current	Prior	Change
Week over week	161 cfs	590 cfs	-72.7%
Month over month	161 cfs	225 cfs	-28.4%
Year over year	161 cfs	214 cfs	-24.8%
vs 5-yr median	161 cfs	396 cfs	-59.3%

Typical flow for this week of the year (5-year record)
Reading	Discharge
Lowest on record for this week	209 cfs
Median for this week	396 cfs
Highest on record for this week	1,410 cfs

Previous weeks

Week of Aug 26, 2026

Discharge fell to 177 cfs, down 30.9% on the week. The gauge runs 78% below the 5-year median of 803 cfs. Year-over-year, flow has dropped 57.5%.

Week of Aug 19, 2026

Rio Grande at Otowi Bridge discharged 256 cfs, 48% below the 5-year median. Flow rose 4.9% week over week from 244 cfs and 18% year over year from 217 cfs.

An earlier week

Rio Grande at Otowi Bridge ran at 244 cfs, 63% below the 5-year median. The gauge declined 18.4% over the month, from 299 cfs, though week-over-week flow edged up 4.7%. Year-over-year discharge is down 10.0%.

Week of Aug 13, 2026

Rio Grande discharge at Otowi Bridge stood at 248 cfs on August 9, 74% below the 5-year median. Flow dropped 14.5% month over month and 3.9% week over week. The gauge was 12.2% above the prior year.

About Rio Grande at Otowi Bridge

USGS gage 08313000 measures the Rio Grande at Otowi Bridge in northern New Mexico, below the Rio Chama confluence and above Cochiti Dam. It is the accounting gage for the Rio Grande Compact: New Mexico's delivery obligation to Texas is calculated from the flow recorded here, which makes it one of the most legally consequential streamflow stations in the country.

Above it are the San Juan-Chama transbasin diversion, which imports Colorado River water into the Rio Grande system, and El Vado and Abiquiu reservoirs on the Chama. A normal year peaks with snowmelt from the San Juan and Sangre de Cristo mountains in May, then falls through a low summer punctuated by monsoon storm pulses in July and August. A weak spring peak here has immediate legal consequences, because a shortfall accrues as compact debt that New Mexico has to repay from storage in a later year.