Current Water Level (10/5)

[BigMike]

Finally the water levels have stabilized! From some of the reports I've been getting the water clarity is improving and levels stabile to slightly lower. The current gage reading in St. Cloud shows 5.57feet and a discharge of 7480cubic ft. per second. River height & discharge seemed to have peaked last Friday and has been consistant over the last 1.5weeks.

Keep up to date with the most recent levels: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mn/nwis/uv?dd_cd=03&dd_cd=04&format=gif&period=31&site_no=05270700

Mixed reports have been coming in, some are having good success while others are finding it hard to locate fish. Either way, the bite should be getting better from here on out! Good luck everyone - hope to see you out there.

[Keith_MN]

Big Mikie,

I was noticing that the "average" water levels/discharge of the Mississippi increased significantly a few days ago. Do you know what causes this?

Is it a draw down of the Sartell dam (or elsewhere)?

And if so, has the drawdown occurred yet this fall?

Just curious if you might have some insights.

Thanks in advance.

[Royce Aardahl]

In the last week it's dropped a couple inches and gone back up so it's been relly level. I can't say if it's clearing up at all.

[smallie_hawgin]

If you look at the individual guage readings, particularly in St. Cloud, they are some what cyclical. By this I mean it depends on work load as to how much water runs through the turbies to generate electricity for the power plant or for the paper mills. St. Clouds hydro facility has very abrupt changes on flow because of the electrical demand. What you typically see is an increase in discharge in the mornings and evenings when folks in St. Cloud turn on their appliances etc. During mid day you typically see falling water levels when there is less demand. This is very noticeable when flows(at St. Cloud) are between 2500 and 5000 CFS. Overall it makes life challenging for fish (and anglers). Hope this helps.

[Keith_MN]

Smallie Hawgin',

Do you know where the gauges are located? Are they above the 10th street dam, or below it?

I'm trying to 'connect the dots', so to speak, between the water level and the discharge rate.

Thanks for the insights.

[smallie_hawgin]

Kieth,

If you look at the USGS site and click on the individual station code there is also a link to the site map or description. For St. Cloud it is about 200 m downstream on the left bank (looking downstream). Most of the guages are below the facilities, due to knowing the cross sectional area at the dam and having an accurate place to record the stage.

[BigMike]

Here is the link to the St. Cloud USGS gauges from above... Sorry that it took so long to respond (out of town this week). Smallie Hawgin' covered it better than I could anyways . http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mn/nwis/uv/?site_no=05270700&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060

[smallie_hawgin]

Thanks BM!

I do the best I can to "cover" for ya!!! Course I forgot to add the link... Doh!