USGS Water-Year Summary for Site 08290000

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Water year 2023: 2022-10-01 to 2023-09-30

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USGS Water-Year Summary 2023

08290000 RIO CHAMA NEAR CHAMITA, NM

LOCATION - Lat 36°04'24.8", long 106°06'42.1" referenced to North American Datum of 1983, Rio Arriba County, NM, Hydrologic Unit 13020102, in San Juan Pueblo Grant, near left downstream corner of bridge on U.S. Highway 285, 0.5 mi west of Chamita, 2.5 mi northwest of San Juan Pueblo, and at mile 2.8.

DRAINAGE AREA - 3,144 mi² of which 100 mi² probably is noncontributing.

REVISIONS HISTORY - WSP 1512: 1913-15, 1934, 1936. WSP 1632: 1929(M). WSP 1732: 1931(M). WSP 1923: drainage area.

SURFACE-WATER RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - October 1912 to current year. Monthly discharge only for some periods, published in WSP 1312. Published as "Chama River near Chamita" prior to 1928, and "Chama River at Chamita" 1929-30.

GAGE - Water-stage recorder with satellite telemetry and crest-stage gage. Concrete control since Jan. 1, 1964. Datum of gage is 5,653.61 ft above NGVD of 1929. Prior to Oct. 4, 1933, at railroad bridge 2.3 mi downstream at different datums. Oct. 4, 1933, to Mar. 1, 1942, at site 50 ft downstream at datum 0.22 ft higher. Mar. 2, 1942, to Dec. 31, 1963, at site 200 ft downstream, present datum.

REMARKS - Water years 2014-2015; records good except for estimated discharges, which are poor. Water year 2016; records fair except for estimated discharges, which are poor. Water years 2017-2019; records poor. Diversions upstream from station for irrigation of about 27,600 acres. Chamita ditch (station 08289500), on left bank, and Hernandez ditch (station 08289800), on right bank, bypass gage for irrigation of several hundred acres downstream from station. Flow regulated by El Vado Reservoir (station 08285000), 74.9 mi upstream, since Jan. 1935 and Abiquiu Reservoir (station 08286900), 29.3 mi upstream, since Feb. 1963. Since May 1971 flow affected by release of transmountain water from Heron Reservoir (station 08284510) 83.0 mi upstream. No flow at times some years.

EXTREMES OUTSIDE PERIOD OF RECORD - The floods of Sept. 29, 1904, and Oct. 4 or 5, 1911, probably exceeded 15,000 ft³/s. Another major flood occurred in 1884, from newspaper accounts.

WATER-QUALITY RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - Water years 1948 to 2011.

PERIOD OF DAILY RECORD -
SPECIFIC CONDUCTANCE: October 1963 to December 1974, December 2004 to April 2008.
WATER TEMPERATURE: January 1950 to December 1974, December 2004 to April 2008.
SUSPENDED-SEDIMENT DISCHARGE: October 1955 to December 1974.