USGS Water-Year Summary for Site 04231600

Click to hide Water-Year Summary instructions and information

Water-Year Summary reports summarize a year of hydrologic data in a printer-friendly format.
For water years 2014 onward, choose a water year and parameter and an on-demand Water-Year Summary report will be generated.
For water years 2006 through 2013, choose a water year and an Annual Water Data Report will be provided.
For water years 2005 and earlier, Annual Water Data Reports may be available in digital format.
Not all sites have reports available for every water year.

	Available Parameters
	00010 Temperature, water(Max.,Min.,Mean)
	00060 Discharge(Mean)
	00095 Specific cond at 25C(Max.,Min.,Mean)
	00300 Dissolved oxygen(Max.,Min.,Mean)
	00400 pH(Max.,Min.,Med.)
	63680 Turbidity, Form Neph(Mean,Max.,Min.)

Select a water year

Water year 2023: 2022-10-01 to 2023-09-30

Print this page

USGS Water-Year Summary 2023

04231600 GENESSEE RIVER AT FORD STREET BRIDGE, ROCHESTER, NY

LOCATION - Lat 43°08'30.2", long 77°36'58.7" referenced to North American Datum of 1983, Monroe County, NY, Hydrologic Unit 04130003, on left bank, adjacent to floodwall, about 400 ft upstream from bridge on Ford Street, in Rochester.

DRAINAGE AREA - 2,474 mi².

SURFACE-WATER RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - April 1904 to September 1918, December 1919 to current year. Published as 04231500, "below Erie Canal at Rochester," 1904-18, as 04232000, "at Driving Park Avenue," 1919-68, and "at Rochester," 1969-2005.

GAGE - Acoustic velocity meter and water-stage recorder. Acoustic velocity meter since 2005. Datum of gage is 498.40 ft above NAVD of 1988, 500.00 ft above Barge Canal datum (furnished), and 498.98 ft above NGVD of 1929 (furnished). April 1904 to December 1910, nonrecording gage, and December 1910 to September 1918, water-stage recorder, at site 1.9 mi upstream at datum 506.85 ft, Barge Canal datum. December 1919 to Apr. 4, 1927 (in Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation power plant), and Apr. 4, 1927 to June 19, 1956, at site 3.1 mi downstream, at datum 250.00 ft above NGVD of 1929. June 20, 1956 to Sept. 30, 1969, at site 3.1 mi downstream at datum 247.00 ft above NGVD of 1929. Oct. 1, 1969 to Sept. 30, 1985, at site 3.1 mi downstream at datum 246.24 ft above NGVD of 1929. Oct. 1, 1985 to Sep. 30, 2005, at site 3.1 mi downstream at datum 244.24 ft above NGVD of 1929 (245.00 ft Barge Canal datum). Oct. 1, 2005 to Mar. 31, 2019, at datum 1.08 ft below NGVD of 1929 (at Barge Canal datum).

REMARKS - Occasional fluctuation caused by powerplant downstream from station. New York State Erie (Barge) Canal crosses river 1.8 mi upstream from station. Water diverted by the canal from Niagara River basin is discharged into river from the west, the canal again diverting a smaller amount of water from river to the east. Additional regulation to some extent by Rushford Lake from July 1928 to November 1951, at high flows by Mount Morris Lake (station 04224000) since November 1951, and by Conesus Lake (station 04227980).
Water Year 2014: Records good except those below 800 ft³/s, which are fair, and those for estimated daily discharges, which are poor.
Water Years 2015-23: Records fair except those for estimated daily discharges and daily discharges below 2,000 ft³/s, which are poor.

EXTREMES OUTSIDE PERIOD OF RECORD - Maximum discharge, about 54,000 ft³/s, Mar. 18, 1865.

EXTREMES FOR PERIOD OF RECORD - Maximum discharge, since construction of Mt. Morris Reservoir in 1951, 29,600 ft³/s, June 25, 1972, gage height, 15.89 ft, site and datum then in use. Since water year 2006, maximum and minimum instantaneous discharges not determined. Maximum daily discharge, since construction of Mt. Morris Reservoir in 1951, 24,900 ft³/s, June 25, 26, 1972; maximum gage height, since January 2005, 14.34 ft, present datum, Mar. 13, 2014; minimum daily discharge, 76 ft³/s, July 27, 2016.

EXTREMES FOR PERIOD PRIOR TO REGULATION - Maximum discharge, prior to construction of Mt. Morris Reservoir in 1951, 48,300 ft³/s, Mar. 30, 1916, gage height, 15.3 ft, site and datum then in use; minimum discharge (at gage site located 3.1 mi downstream), less than 10 ft³/s, occurred during low-flow periods in some years when power plant was shut down.

WATER-QUALITY RECORDS

PERIOD OF DAILY RECORD - WATER TEMPERATURE: December 2010 to current year. SPECIFIC CONDUCTANCE: December 2010 to current year. pH: December 2010 to current year. DISSOLVED OXYGEN: December 2010 to current year. TURBIDITY: December 2010 to current year.

COOPERATION - In cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).

INSTRUMENTATION - Multi-parameter water-quality sonde measures water temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity at 15-minute intervals since December 2010.

EXTREMES FOR PERIOD OF DAILY RECORD -
WATER TEMPERATURE: Maximum, 29.9°C, July 24, 2011; minimum, -0.1°C, on many days.
SPECIFIC CONDUCTANCE: Maximum, 1,250 uS/cm @ 25°C, Mar. 12, 2015; minimum, 232 uS/cm @ 25°C, July 30, 2018.
pH: Maximum, 8.7, July 12, 2018; minimum, 7.3, Sept. 2, 5, 7, 2012.
DISSOLVED OXYGEN: Maximum, 15.8 mg/L, Aug. 19, 2015; minimum, 2.8 mg/L, June 30, 2016.
TURBIDITY: Maximum, 1,560 FNU, July 16, 2015; minimum, 1.4 FNU, Oct. 16, 2014.