USGS Water-Year Summary for Site 05454500

Click to hide Water-Year Summary instructions and information

Water-Year Summary reports summarize a year of hydrologic data in a printer-friendly format.
For water years 2014 onward, choose a water year and parameter and an on-demand Water-Year Summary report will be generated.
For water years 2006 through 2013, choose a water year and an Annual Water Data Report will be provided.
For water years 2005 and earlier, Annual Water Data Reports may be available in digital format.
Not all sites have reports available for every water year.

	Available Parameters
	00060 Discharge(Mean)

Select a water year

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

Print this page

USGS Water-Year Summary 2023

05454500 Iowa River at Iowa City, IA

LOCATION - Lat 41°39'24.06", long 91°32'27.6" referenced to North American Datum of 1983, in NE 1/4 NE 1/4 NE 1/4 sec.16, T.79 N., R.6 W., Johnson County, IA, Hydrologic Unit 07080209, on right bank 25 ft downstream from the University of Iowa Hydraulics Laboratory in Iowa City, 175 ft downstream from University dam, 0.8 mi upstream from Ralston Creek, 3.6 mi downstream from Clear Creek, and 72.3 mi upstream from mouth.

DRAINAGE AREA - 3,271 mi².

SURFACE-WATER RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - Discharge records from June 1903 to current year. Prior to April 1918, monthly mean discharge for some periods published in WSP 1308.

GAGE - Water-stage recorder. Datum of gage is 29.00 ft above Iowa City datum and 617.10 ft above North American Vertical Datum of 1988. June 1, 1903, to July 21, 1906, non-recording gage at site 1,200 ft upstream at datum 13.05 ft higher; November 29, 1907, to October 29, 1913, non-recording gage at site 200 ft upstream at different datum; October 30, 1913, to November 18, 1921, non-recording gage at site 2,600 ft downstream at datum 10.20 ft higher; November 19, 1921, to September 30, 1922, water-stage recorder at same site at datum 1.00 ft higher; October 1, 1930, to September 30, 1934, at same site at Iowa City datum, or 29.00 ft lower; October 1, 1934, to September 30, 1972, at datum 10.00 ft higher.

REMARKS - Accuracy of records is discussed in the annual Station Analysis archived at the USGS IA Water Science Center. Minor fluctuations during periods of low flow due to operations of power plant located 175 ft upstream. Flow regulated by Coralville Lake (station 05453510), 9.1 mi upstream, since September 17, 1958.

EXTREMES OUTSIDE PERIOD OF RECORD - Flood of July 17, 1881, reached a stage of 21.1 ft, from high-water mark, at site and datum in use from 1913-1921, from information by local resident, discharge 51,000 ft³/s. Maximum stage since at least 1850 occurred in June 1851, about 3 ft higher than that of July 17, 1881, discharge about 70,000 ft³/s.

WATER-QUALITY RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - Water years 1906-1907, 1944-2002, 2007-2008, 2012.

PERIOD OF DAILY RECORD -
SPECIFIC CONDUCTANCE: Daily instantaneous values collected in conjunction with suspended-sediment samples, October 1968 to September 1987, records fragmentary.
WATER TEMPERATURE: Daily instantaneous values collected in conjunction with suspended-sediment records, January 1944 to September 1987, records fragmentary.
SUSPENDED-SEDIMENT CONCENTRATION AND DISCHARGE: October 1943 to September 1987.