Rio Hondo (Rio Grande-Elephant Butte)
Streamflow, conditions and background by watershed segment. Data through November 1, 2026.
Data gaps and disparities
Found automatically in the gauge records behind this river, and notes from a reviewer who checked them against other sources. Gauges need at least 26 weeks of daily data to appear on the Flow tab.
Warnings (3)
- warning: gap Arroyo Hondo At Arroyo Hondo, NM: 2 gaps of 60+ days inside the record (1,340 days in all). Longest: Jan 1, 1929 to Jan 31, 1932 (1,126 days); Jun 1, 1925 to Dec 31, 1925 (214 days).
- warning: peak conflict Arroyo Hondo At Arroyo Hondo, NM: 2 approved USGS daily values exceed that water year's USGS annual peak, in water year 1937 (e.g. 495 cfs on May 30, 1937 against a peak of 465). A day's mean cannot exceed the year's peak, so one of the two USGS records is wrong for those years; the daily values are kept.
- warning: peak conflict Rio Hondo Near Valdez, NM: 130 approved USGS daily values exceed that water year's USGS annual peak, in water years 1989, 2014 (e.g. 117 cfs on Jun 2, 2014 against a peak of 22). A day's mean cannot exceed the year's peak, so one of the two USGS records is wrong for those years; the daily values are kept.
Context (4)
Show 4 notes
- flatline Arroyo Hondo At Arroyo Hondo, NM: 21 runs of 30+ days at exactly the same flow: 4.0 cfs for 96 days from Aug 16, 1928; 13.0 cfs for 64 days from Oct 1, 1924; 37.0 cfs for 59 days from Sep 24, 1923. Usually an estimated period (ice, a broken gauge) rather than measured daily flow.
- ended Discontinued gauges: 2 gauges have stopped reporting: Rio Hondo At Damsi At Valdez, NM (last 1966); Arroyo Hondo At Arroyo Hondo, NM (last 1985). Their segments rest on fewer gauges after those years.
- flatline Rio Hondo Near Valdez, NM: 6 runs of 30+ days at exactly the same flow: 14.0 cfs for 46 days from Dec 15, 1938; 14.0 cfs for 38 days from Dec 11, 1949; 15.0 cfs for 35 days from Jan 18, 1950. Usually an estimated period (ice, a broken gauge) rather than measured daily flow.
- single gauge Upper Rio Grande: 54% of this segment's weeks rest on a single gauge; the segment value is that gauge in those weeks, and jumps when other gauges join or drop out.
Values removed (0)
A reading is removed automatically only when it is impossible (for example, a daily mean above the highest flow USGS recorded that water year). Low and zero flows are never removed: rivers here really do dry up.
None.
Gauges
Each row is one physical gauge; "published by" lists every agency copy that was merged into it.
| Gauge | Segment | Published by | First | Last | Weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rio Hondo At Damsi At Valdez, NM | Upper Rio Grande | usgs | 1963-04-01 | 1966-09-26 | 183 |
| Arroyo Hondo At Arroyo Hondo, NM | Upper Rio Grande | usgs | 1912-09-30 | 1985-09-23 | 3617 |
| Rio Hondo Near Valdez, NM | Upper Rio Grande | usgs | 1934-10-01 | 2026-10-26 | 4805 |