About this river
Rio Grande is an 18.5 mile river near Zia Kayak Outfitters in New Mexico. Streamflow is measured at the USGS gauge Rio Grande at Narrows IN Elephant Butte Res., NM (site 08359500). The National Hydrography Dataset places it at stream order 9. Reach geometry comes from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset.
Typical flow by month
1951 to 2025
Rio Grande typically runs highest in May, at a median 613 cfs, and lowest in September, at 84 cfs. The highest flow on record for any single day is 8,060 cfs, in 1957.
| Month | Typical (cfs) | Usual range (cfs) | Relative level |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 514 | 437 to 640 | |
| February | 578 | 482 to 703 | |
| March | 483 | 305 to 753 | |
| April | 275 | 139 to 617 | |
| May | 613 | 137 to 2,530 | |
| June | 180 | 68 to 2,480 | |
| July | 140 | 35 to 705 | |
| August | 214 | 93 to 646 | |
| September | 84 | 41 to 184 | |
| October | 105 | 29 to 244 | |
| November | 286 | 61 to 845 | |
| December | 585 | 350 to 856 |
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 19 years of record. Statistics published by the US Geological Survey for Rio Grande at Narrows IN Elephant Butte Res., NM (site 08359500). Conditions on any given day can fall well outside the usual range. Check the current reading before you go.
Boat access nearby
One mapped launch sits in the mapped area of Rio Grande. Ramp data comes from the USGS national boat-ramp inventory.
- Elephant Butte Lake State Park - South MonticelloRio Grande - Elephant Butte LakePublic
Embed this gauge on your site
Paste this snippet anywhere, an outfitter page, a club site, a trip report, to show Rio Grande'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.
