About this river
Rio Grande is a 29.5 mile river near Marina Del Sur in New Mexico. Streamflow is measured at the USGS gauge Rio Grande below Elephant Butte Dam, NM (site 08361000). The National Hydrography Dataset places it at stream order 9. Reach geometry comes from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset.
Typical flow by month
1917 to 2026
Rio Grande typically runs highest in June, at a median 1,885 cfs, and lowest in December, at 9.0 cfs. The highest flow on record for any single day is 8,220 cfs, in 1942.
| Month | Typical (cfs) | Usual range (cfs) | Relative level |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11 | 3.3 to 282 | |
| February | 509 | 12 to 1,060 | |
| March | 1,140 | 690 to 1,500 | |
| April | 1,485 | 1,010 to 1,900 | |
| May | 1,530 | 994 to 1,900 | |
| June | 1,885 | 1,515 to 2,130 | |
| July | 1,750 | 1,290 to 2,120 | |
| August | 1,360 | 765 to 1,950 | |
| September | 653 | 13 to 1,220 | |
| October | 12 | 4.0 to 412 | |
| November | 9.1 | 3.0 to 73 | |
| December | 9.0 | 3.0 to 120 |
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 109 years of record. Statistics published by the US Geological Survey for Rio Grande below Elephant Butte Dam, NM (site 08361000). Conditions on any given day can fall well outside the usual range. Check the current reading before you go.
Boat access nearby
4 mapped launches sit in the mapped area of Rio Grande, all of them public access. Ramp data comes from the USGS national boat-ramp inventory.
- Caballo Lake State ParkRio Grande - Caballo LakePublic
- Elephant Butte Lake State Park - Dam SiteRio Grande - Elephant Butte LakePublic
- Elephant Butte Lake State Park - Marina Del SurRio Grande - Elephant Butte LakePublic
- Elephant Butte Lake State Park - Rock Canyon MarinaRio 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.
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