About this river
Big Sioux River is a 21.6 mile river near Sodak Outdoor Kayak Rentals in South Dakota. Streamflow is measured at the USGS gauge Big Sioux River near Dell Rapids, SD (site 06481000). The National Hydrography Dataset places it at stream order 6. Reach geometry comes from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset.
Typical flow by month
1949 to 2026
Big Sioux River typically runs highest in April, at a median 615 cfs, and lowest in February, at 26 cfs. The highest flow on record for any single day is 35,000 cfs, in 1969.
| Month | Typical (cfs) | Usual range (cfs) | Relative level |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30 | 14 to 117 | |
| February | 26 | 12 to 128 | |
| March | 284 | 85 to 866 | |
| April | 615 | 215 to 1,665 | |
| May | 532 | 203 to 1,230 | |
| June | 435 | 159 to 1,005 | |
| July | 252 | 83 to 690 | |
| August | 126 | 48 to 430 | |
| September | 88 | 36 to 274 | |
| October | 97 | 38 to 258 | |
| November | 89 | 41 to 289 | |
| December | 66 | 25 to 193 |
Typical is the median of each month’s daily median values, and the usual range runs from the median 25th to the median 75th percentile, across about 77 years of record. Statistics published by the US Geological Survey for Big Sioux River near Dell Rapids, SD (site 06481000). Conditions on any given day can fall well outside the usual range. Check the current reading before you go.
Embed this gauge on your site
Paste this snippet anywhere, an outfitter page, a club site, a trip report, to show Big Sioux River's live streamflow, water level and 7-day trend. It reads the USGS gauge directly, updates itself, and links back here.
See every free widget you can put on your site, including live conditions and a 7 day forecast.
