| Rafting the Salt River in
Arizona is all about snow melt and timing. To see
how the Upper Salt River Basin/White Mountains are
shaping up over the winter just click on the snow
precipitation arrow below. For the current flow
on the Upper Salt River, click on the Arizona Stream
flow arrow below and scroll down to the Salt River
Basin section. The link labeled Salt River near
Chrysotile is the gauge at the put-in for all trips. |
|
|
Snow
Precipitation
(Updated Daily) |
Arizona
Stream flow
(Real-Time Data) |
Information
Provided By:
United States Department of Agriculture |
Information
Provided By:
United States Geological Survey |
The table below
from the USGS shows the monthly average flow for
the Salt river in cubic feet per second (cfs).
As you can see the months of March, April and
May have the most consistent and highest flows,
hence our rafting season! |
| |
YEAR |
Monthly mean
in cfs (Calculation Period: 1983-01-01
-> 2006-09-30)
Period-of-record for statistical calculation
restricted by user |
| Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| 1983 |
882.8 |
1,779 |
3,766 |
3,599 |
2,860 |
955.3 |
340.9 |
445.5 |
598.7 |
3,777 |
354.2 |
1,138 |
| 1984 |
723.5 |
468.9 |
765.0 |
796.4 |
504.4 |
172.6 |
254.5 |
527.7 |
466.2 |
925.7 |
412.4 |
2,901 |
| 1985 |
1,684 |
1,623 |
4,293 |
2,976 |
1,767 |
514.5 |
284.5 |
356.7 |
338.7 |
439.7 |
440.1 |
457.8 |
| 1986 |
277.2 |
1,286 |
1,936 |
1,478 |
472.4 |
235.2 |
309.9 |
297.5 |
282.9 |
421.3 |
857.9 |
988.9 |
| 1987 |
405.2 |
824.7 |
2,341 |
2,959 |
1,173 |
351.7 |
216.4 |
416.6 |
204.5 |
182.3 |
336.5 |
237.4 |
| 1988 |
392.5 |
1,159 |
946.0 |
1,679 |
1,047 |
262.6 |
248.9 |
898.8 |
1,125 |
266.9 |
224.7 |
223.6 |
| 1989 |
282.6 |
403.2 |
1,007 |
497.4 |
198.5 |
106.9 |
119.3 |
194.0 |
123.0 |
174.4 |
159.9 |
158.4 |
| 1990 |
184.5 |
202.7 |
365.7 |
383.1 |
263.2 |
109.9 |
336.6 |
291.6 |
273.0 |
248.8 |
238.5 |
940.9 |
| 1991 |
1,308 |
639.5 |
4,313 |
3,319 |
1,226 |
350.2 |
166.4 |
232.5 |
366.2 |
134.6 |
208.2 |
551.7 |
| 1992 |
632.5 |
1,655 |
2,087 |
2,578 |
1,265 |
670.9 |
201.8 |
965.5 |
333.7 |
200.8 |
202.0 |
1,219 |
| 1993 |
7,939 |
4,826 |
3,640 |
4,025 |
1,899 |
558.4 |
218.6 |
249.4 |
274.1 |
249.2 |
258.6 |
230.4 |
| 1994 |
210.7 |
428.4 |
1,122 |
694.1 |
432.7 |
196.0 |
116.1 |
225.5 |
640.0 |
238.0 |
1,093 |
841.4 |
| 1995 |
1,600 |
2,817 |
3,347 |
1,077 |
902.7 |
401.6 |
173.7 |
179.6 |
194.1 |
165.0 |
171.2 |
145.6 |
| 1996 |
143.0 |
178.5 |
175.4 |
169.7 |
116.9 |
96.4 |
214.5 |
229.6 |
403.0 |
195.1 |
307.5 |
301.6 |
| 1997 |
472.7 |
442.1 |
1,669 |
964.9 |
597.1 |
193.6 |
126.1 |
177.0 |
185.4 |
156.5 |
183.6 |
255.8 |
| 1998 |
290.2 |
647.8 |
2,045 |
2,530 |
1,621 |
407.6 |
234.3 |
219.5 |
140.9 |
192.2 |
206.7 |
221.5 |
| 1999 |
181.2 |
180.4 |
174.4 |
342.1 |
227.9 |
137.8 |
314.7 |
978.4 |
398.6 |
181.7 |
159.5 |
156.4 |
| 2000 |
156.3 |
149.9 |
177.7 |
193.6 |
120.5 |
112.0 |
120.0 |
237.0 |
150.4 |
472.3 |
904.9 |
286.4 |
| 2001 |
222.4 |
429.9 |
1,033 |
1,514 |
662.5 |
193.2 |
162.4 |
282.4 |
160.4 |
133.4 |
138.2 |
150.3 |
| 2002 |
152.7 |
152.3 |
154.7 |
148.7 |
100.7 |
72.2 |
223.0 |
293.3 |
353.8 |
130.8 |
176.4 |
168.5 |
| 2003 |
209.1 |
424.9 |
1,899 |
1,191 |
550.1 |
166.2 |
145.0 |
232.5 |
576.6 |
151.9 |
232.4 |
168.6 |
| 2004 |
171.7 |
193.6 |
1,229 |
872.2 |
301.6 |
102.6 |
170.0 |
179.4 |
152.8 |
148.4 |
203.6 |
365.9 |
| 2005 |
1,353 |
4,455 |
1,585 |
1,837 |
903.1 |
261.7 |
125.2 |
303.0 |
175.8 |
137.7 |
140.4 |
137.7 |
| 2006 |
139.2 |
137.0 |
169.9 |
236.6 |
132.6 |
85.6 |
592.8 |
1,984 |
619.9 |
|
|
|
Mean
of
monthly
Discharge |
834 |
1,060 |
1,680 |
1,500 |
806 |
280 |
226 |
433 |
356 |
405 |
331 |
532 |
The table below from the
USGS shows the average annual flow of the Salt
river in cubic feet per second (cfs). The lowest
flow for a year in which there was a rafting
season was 1994 with 399.5 cfs. As you can see,
between 1983 and 1993 there were two non-rafting
seasons: 1989 & 1990.
During the next 13 years we had 6 non-rafting
seasons: 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004 & 2006.
Hence the ongoing drought. From 1983 to 1993 the
river didn't run 1 out of 4 years. Since 1994
the river didn't run 1 out of 2 years. |
| Year |
The Salt rivers average flow for the entire
year |
| 1983 |
1,379 |
| 1984 |
835.2 |
| 1985 |
1,510 |
| 1986 |
654.8 |
| 1987 |
929.1 |
| 1988 |
705.6 |
| 1989 |
303.8 |
| 1990 |
242.4 |
| 1991 |
1,117 |
| 1992 |
936.3 |
| 1993 |
2,091 |
| 1994 |
399.5 |
| 1995 |
1,062 |
| 1996 |
183.8 |
| 1997 |
470.2 |
| 1998 |
727.4 |
| 1999 |
297.5 |
| 2000 |
159.7 |
| 2001 |
526.0 |
| 2002 |
172.9 |
| 2003 |
489.3 |
| 2004 |
327.8 |
| 2005 |
951.7 |
| 2006 |
379.2 |
|
