South Platte Basin water today
Today's figures for Division 1 of the Colorado Division of Water Resources: river calls, flows, reservoirs, snowpack and drought, each with its source and time.
River flows
| Gauge | cfs | % of median | Source | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Platte River below Brush Creek near Trumbull | 83 | 45% | USGS | Oct 4, 2026, 12:45 p.m. |
| South Platte River below Union Avenue at Englewood | 11 | 32% | USGS | Oct 4, 2026, 12:45 p.m. |
| South Platte River at Englewood | 22 | 36% | USGS | Oct 4, 2026, 1:00 p.m. |
| South Platte River at 64th Avenue, Commerce City | 36 | 275% | USGS | Oct 4, 2026, 12:45 p.m. |
| South Platte River at Fort Lupton | 135 | 92% | USGS | Oct 4, 2026, 1:00 p.m. |
| South Platte River at Fort Morgan | 146 | 59% | USGS | Oct 4, 2026, 1:30 p.m. |
Reservoirs
| Reservoir | Full | Storage (AF) | Capacity (AF) | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horsetooth Reservoir | 79% | 123,858 | 156,735 | Oct 3, 2026 |
| Carter Lake | 59% | 66,709 | 112,230 | Oct 3, 2026 |
| Chatfield Reservoir | 56% | 27,024 | 47,882 | Oct 3, 2026 |
| Cherry Creek Reservoir | 78% | 10,832 | 13,960 | Oct 3, 2026 |
| Spinney Mountain Reservoir | 30% | 15,626 | 53,000 | Oct 3, 2026 |
| Button Rock (Ralph Price) Reservoir | 96% | 15,558 | 16,203 | Oct 3, 2026 |
All stream gauges in the South Platte basin
A page per gauge with its latest flow; 68 in the division.
Show all 68 gauges, by river
- Tarryall Creek
- Upper Station
- South Platte River
- above Cheesman Lake · below Brush Creek · below Union Avenue · Englewood · 64th Avenue, Commerce City · Fort Lupton · Fort Morgan
- West Plum Creek
- Perry Park · Sedalia
- East Plum Creek
- above Haskins Gulch
- Plum Creek
- Sedalia · Titan Road
- Lee Gulch
- Littleton
- Dutch Creek
- Platte Canyon Drive
- Big Dry Creek
- below C-470 · Westminster · Mouth
- Bear Creek
- above Evergreen · above Bear Creek Lake
- Turkey Creek
- above Bear Creek Lake
- Little Dry Creek
- Arapahoe Road · above Englewood · Westminster · below Federal Blvd
- Harvard Gulch
- Colorado Blvd. · Harvard Park
- Weir Gulch
- above 1st Avenue
- Dry Gulch
- Denver
- Lakewood Gulch
- Denver
- Cherry Creek
- Franktown · below Cherry Creek Lake · Denver · Parker
- Sand Creek
- above Burlington Ditch · Mouth
- South Clear Creek
- above Lower Cabin Creek Reservoir · above Lower Cabin Creek Reservoir Spillway
- Leavenworth Creek
- Mouth
- Clear Creek
- above West Fork Clear Creek · Lawson · Golden
- West Fork Clear Creek
- above Mouth
- North Clear Creek
- above Mouth
- Lena Gulch
- Lakewood
- First Creek
- below Buckley Road
- Left Hand Creek
- Hover Road
- Fourmile Creek
- Logan Mill Road · Orodell
- Fourmile Canyon Creek
- Sunshine
- Boulder Creek
- North 75th Street · Mouth
- St Vrain Creek
- below Boulder Creek
- North Fork Big Thompson River
- Drake
- Big Thompson River
- above Dille Tunnel · Loveland
- Buckhorn Creek
- Masonville
- Joe Wright Creek
- below Joe Wright Reservoir
- North Fork Cache La Poudre River
- above Halligan Reservoir · below Halligan Reservoir · Livermore
- Cache La Poudre River
- Fort Collins · above Boxelder Creek · above North 11th Avenue
- Toll Gate Creek
- above 6th Avenue
- Andrews Creek
- Loch Vale, Rocky Mountain National Park
- The Loch Outlet
- Loch Vale, Rocky Mountain National Park
- Big Thompson
- below Moraine Park
Counties in this basin
This week's drought by county, wholly or partly in Division 1: Adams · Arapahoe · Boulder · Broomfield · Cheyenne · Clear Creek · Denver · Douglas · Elbert · El Paso · Gilpin · Jefferson · Kit Carson · Larimer · Lincoln · Logan · Morgan · Park · Phillips · Sedgwick · Teller · Washington · Weld · Yuma
About the South Platte basin
The South Platte basin is Division 1 of Colorado's seven water divisions. It takes in the South Platte, Laramie and Republican river basins, and its Division Engineer's office and water court sit in Greeley. BasinMind follows conditions here at Fort Collins, Greeley, Denver and Sterling.
The division is split into 16 water districts, the units water commissioners administer day to day. The first two digits of a structure's WDID are its district (What is a WDID?).
- 01 South Platte: Greeley to Balzac
- 02 South Platte: Denver Gage to Greeley
- 03 Cache La Poudre River
- 04 Big Thompson River
- 05 St. Vrain Creek
- 06 Boulder Creek
- 07 Clear Creek
- 08 South Platte Cheesman to Denver Gage
- 09 Bear Creek
- 23 Upper South Platte
- 48 Laramie River
- 49 Republican River
- 64 South Platte: Balzac to Stateline
- 65 Arikaree River
- 76 Sand Creek
- 80 North Fork of South Platte
BasinMind follows 6 reservoirs in the division, with the capacity it records for each: Horsetooth Reservoir (156,735 acre-feet), Carter Lake (112,230 acre-feet), Chatfield Reservoir (47,882 acre-feet, reallocated multipurpose pool), Cherry Creek Reservoir (13,960 acre-feet, conservation pool), Spinney Mountain Reservoir (53,000 acre-feet) and Button Rock (Ralph Price) Reservoir (16,203 acre-feet). The largest is Horsetooth Reservoir; daily storage comes from Colorado DWR telemetry or Reclamation.
The South Platte Compact (1923) with Nebraska governs how the river is shared at the state line.
Water planning here runs through the South Platte Basin Roundtable and Metro Basin Roundtable of the Colorado Water Conservation Board.
Each figure above carries the time its source stamped it. Percent of median compares today's flow with the median for this date over the gauge's record (cfs and acre-feet); a call shows how far down the priority list rights are being served on a stretch of river (What is a water call?).
More for this basin
Explainers
- What is a water call?
- Is my ditch in priority?
- Colorado's seven water divisions
- cfs and acre-feet
- Snowpack and SWE
- Reading the U.S. Drought Monitor
Other basins
- Arkansas · Division 2
- Rio Grande · Division 3
- Gunnison · Division 4
- Colorado River · Division 5
- Yampa-White-Green · Division 6
- San Juan/Dolores · Division 7