USGS Water-Year Summary for Site 08159500

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(Max.,Min.,Mean)
	00065 Gage height(Max.,Min.,Mean)

Select a water year

Water year 2024: 2023-10-01 to 2024-09-30

Print this page

USGS Water-Year Summary 2024

08159500 Colorado River at Smithville, TX

LOCATION - Lat 30°00'45", long 97°09'42" referenced to North American Datum of 1927, Bastrop County, TX, Hydrologic Unit 12090301, on right bank 28 ft downstream from bridge on Business State Highway 71 in Smithville, 500 ft below mouth of Gazley Creek, 3.9 mi below mouth of Alum Creek, and at mile 212.1.

DRAINAGE AREA - 40,371 mi² of which 11,403 mi² probably is noncontributing.

REVISIONS HISTORY - WSP 1342: Drainage area. WSP 1562: 1934. WSP 1712: 1953, 1954(M), 1957-58.

SURFACE-WATER RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - July 1930 to Sept. 1975, Oct. 1997 to current year. PERIOD OF RECORD, Water-Quality.-- CHEMICAL DATA: Nov. 1973 to Aug. 1975, Feb. 2001. BIOCHEMICAL DATA: Oct. 1973 to Sept. 1975.

GAGE -

Water-stage recorder. Radio and Satellite telemetry at station.

Datum of gage: 270.146 ft NAVD88 based on a Level 2 Static GNSS survey processed through OPUS, Ref Frame NAD83 (2011)(EPOCH:2010.0000) ITRF2014 (EPOCH:2023.6240) and Geoid18. The survey was completed on August 16, 2023, while occupying gage origin RM7.

Prior to 8/16/2023: the datum of the gage was 270.14 ft NGVD29. Prior to Apr. 9, 1931, nonrecording gage at same site and datum. Apr. 9, 1931, to Sept. 2, 1971, water-stage recorder at site 360 ft downstream at same datum.

COOPERATION - Lower Colorado River Authority provides operation and maintenance of the gage and verification of stage-discharge relation at low stages. U.S. Geological Survey maintains stage-discharge relation at medium to high stages, computes, and publishes streamflow record.

REMARKS - Since installation of gage in 1930, at least 10% of contributing drainage area has been regulated. At times, low-flow releases from Lake Travis are made for generation of electric power and to fulfill downstream water contracts. There are many diversions above station for irrigation and municipal supply. Some records listed in the "Period of Record" for surface water and water quality may not be available electronically.

EXTREMES OUTSIDE PERIOD OF RECORD - Maximum stage since at least 1860, occurred July 8, 1869, and was several feet higher than flood of Dec. 4, 1913, which reached a stage of 47.4 ft and was the highest since 1869, from information by local residents.