USGS Water-Year Summary 2023
07151000 SALT FORK ARKANSAS RIVER AT TONKAWA, OK
LOCATION - Lat 36°40'19", long 97°18'33" referenced to North American Datum of 1927, in NW 1/4 SE 1/4 sec.04, T.25 N., R.1 W., Kay County, OK, Hydrologic Unit 11060004, on left bank near end of bridge on U.S. Highway 77 in Tonkawa, 4 mi downstream from Thompson Creek, 7.8 mi upstream from Chikaskia River, and at mile 33.8.
DRAINAGE AREA - 4,470 mi². from automated delineation using 10-meter National Elevation Dataset digital elevation model data dated 10/01/2006 and Watershed Boundary Dataset dated 10/01/2006, using Albers Equal-Area Projection, North American Datum 1983.
REVISIONS HISTORY - WDR 2012: Drainage area.
SURFACE-WATER RECORDS
PERIOD OF RECORD - September 1903 to October 1905 (gage heights only), October 1935 to current year. Monthly discharge only for some periods, published as Arkansas River (Salt Fork) near Tonkawa 1903-4 and as "near Tonkawa" 1905.
GAGE - Water-stage recorder. Datum of gage is 930.14 above NAVD of 1988 determined by GNSS Level II Survey using Alltera network with RTK Trimble R-10 tied to RM-4 by USGS Personnel on 07-31-2019. Prior to 07-31-2019 Datum of gage was 930.22 ft above NGVD of 1929. September 1903 to October 1905, nonrecording gage near present site at different datum. Jan. 2, 1936 to Jan. 22, 1939, nonrecording gage, and Jan. 23, 1939 to June 20, 1960, water-stage recorder at site 100 ft upstream at same datum.
EXTREMES OUTSIDE PERIOD OF RECORD - Maximum stage known, 28.98 ft. gage datum, Oct. 11, 1973. Discharge 97,300 ft³/s.