Arkansas River level at Granite
Colorado · Paddling & whitewater
Measured at USGS 07087050 — ARKANSAS RIVER BELOW GRANITE, CO
Reading taken · as of 43 min ago
On the low side — bony, but runnable in a plastic boat
At 146 CFS, this gauge is in the lowest quarter of the 27 years USGS has recorded for this date (1999–2025), at 83% of the 176 CFS median.
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Flow history at Granite
Daily values from USGS 07087050, updated every 15 to 60 minutes. Provisional.
About Arkansas River at Granite
This gauge set its record low thirteen days before this page was written. On 11 September 2026 the daily mean fell to 81.3 CFS, below the 86.1 CFS minimum in the published statistics, so the current record low is newer than the record it is measured against.
There is a second thing to know before reading the seasonal comparison. USGS publishes daily medians for this station for only eight months of the year, March through October; there are no published medians for November, December, January or February. The daily series itself holds 5,146 values since 3 March 1999, well under half the days in that span. Where medians do exist they run from 193 CFS in September to 1,560 in June, and the record high is 4,200 CFS on 18 June 2015.
Arkansas River at Granite — common questions
6 questions
Why is there no percent of normal figure in winter?
Because USGS publishes no daily median for this station between November and February. The statistics cover March through October only, so for four months of the year there is nothing to compare a reading against. That is a property of the published record, not a fault in the reading above.
How complete is the record here?
Partial. The daily series begins on 3 March 1999 but holds only 5,146 values across the twenty-seven years since, so large parts of the calendar are missing. Twenty-seven annual peaks are on file, from June 1999 to June 2025, topped by 4,400 CFS at 9.08 feet on 18 June 2015.
Does the Arkansas at Nathrop track this gauge?
More tightly than any other pairing on this site. Over 5,134 shared days since March 1999 the two correlate at 0.988 in log flow, and this gauge runs at a median of about 0.78 times the Nathrop reading, 24.1 miles downstream. That is effectively the same water measured twice. One caution on the peak record: the June 2024 peak is listed at a stage of 15.93 feet while the four larger peaks sit between 8.71 and 9.08 feet, which suggests a datum change rather than a higher river.
How fast can Arkansas River at Granite come up?
Fast. It is free-flowing, so rain upstream moves it directly. Several feet in a few hours is normal after a heavy storm.
Is Arkansas River at Granite high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for late September here is 176 CFS, from 27 years of record (1999–2025). Today sits in the lowest quarter of those years, at 83% of the median. The comparison is what makes the raw number mean anything: the same reading is a drought on one river and a flood on another.
How often does this reading update?
USGS transmits from gauge 07087050 every 15 to 60 minutes. This page refreshes from USGS when you open it, and the reading is provisional until USGS reviews it. The timestamp is in the gauge's local time.