West Branch Walnut River level at El Dorado
Kansas · Fishing & wading
Measured at USGS 07146800 — WB WALNUT R NR EL DORADO, KS · NWS forecast point EDWK1
Reading taken · as of 28 min ago
Below normal — good wading, low and clear
At 0.7 CFS, this gauge is in the lowest quarter of the 16 years USGS has recorded for this date (2010–2026), at 16% of the 4.5 CFS median.
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Flood stages at El Dorado
National Weather Service categories for gauge EDWK1, WFO ICT. Impact wording is the NWS's own, verbatim.
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Major flood 24.0 ft
- 24.0 ft North and south of the river gage bridge, flood waters cover parts of Main St near 6th Avenue and 12th Avenue. Flooding also affects the streets between SW 40th and SW 50th along SW Haverhill Road, located southwest of the city.
- 25.0 ft Roads flood in northeast El Dorado between 8th Avenue and 12th Avenue. Then 10 miles north of El Dorado, flood waters cover county roads from northwest 75th to 110th.
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Moderate flood 22.0 ft
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Minor flood 21.0 ft
- 21.0 ft The road floods on both side of the 9th Avenue Bridge. Expect bank overflows.
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Action 20.0 ft
- Right now 5.49 ft
Flow history at El Dorado
Daily values from USGS 07146800, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for EDWK1 reissued through the day. Provisional.
Highest crests on record at El Dorado
12 on record
| Stage | Flow | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 32.14 ft | — | Jun 8, 1979 |
| 26.73 ft | 7,140 CFS | Jun 3, 2025 |
| 26.25 ft | 20,817 CFS | Aug 25, 2005 |
| 23.92 ft | 13,683 CFS | Apr 27, 2009 |
| 22.68 ft | — | Jun 8, 1995 |
| 21.50 ft | 9,428 CFS | Sep 12, 2008 |
| 21.34 ft | 7,240 CFS | May 25, 2019 |
| 19.73 ft | 5,785 CFS | May 21, 2019 |
| 19.61 ft | 5,705 CFS | May 26, 2019 |
| 19.50 ft | 6,470 CFS | Jul 3, 2016 |
Crests published by the National Weather Service.
About West Branch Walnut River at El Dorado
In Kansas, below El Dorado Lake. Releases can change the flow by hundreds of CFS in an hour with no rain in the basin — check it the morning you go, not the night before.
Reservoir feeding this stretch
Flow here is set by releases from El Dorado Lake. A full pool usually means more water on its way down.
West Branch Walnut River at El Dorado — common questions
3 questions
How do releases from El Dorado Lake affect this stretch?
Directly and fast. When the dam generates, flow here can climb by an order of magnitude within the hour, with no rain anywhere in the basin. That sudden release is the real hazard on a tailwater. The pool level is on lakelvl.com, linked below.
Is West Branch Walnut River at El Dorado high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for late September here is 4.5 CFS, from 16 years of record (2010–2026). Today sits in the lowest quarter of those years, at 16% 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 07146800 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for EDWK1 a few times a day — more often when the river is rising. This page refreshes from both when you open it. The timestamp is in the gauge's local time.