USGS Water-Year Summary for Site 05117500

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	Available Parameters
	00010 Temperature, water(Mean,Max.,Min.)
	00060 Discharge(Mean)
	00065 Gage height(Mean)
	00095 Specific cond at 25C(Mean,Max.,Min.)
	00300 Dissolved oxygen(Mean,Max.,Min.)

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Water year 2024: 2024-10-01 to 2025-09-30

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USGS Water-Year Summary 2024

05117500 SOURIS RIVER ABOVE MINOT, ND

LOCATION - Lat 48°14'45", long 101°22'15" referenced to North American Datum of 1927, in NW 1/4 SE 1/4 sec.17, T.155 N., R.83 W., Ward County, ND, Hydrologic Unit 09010008, on right bank 180 ft downstream from county highway bridge, 3.5 mi west of Minot, 7 mi downstream from Des Lacs River, and at mile 388.5.

DRAINAGE AREA - 10,600 mi² of which 6,700 mi² probably is noncontributing.

REVISIONS HISTORY - WSP 1308: 1905, 1909-14, 1918, 1924-25, 1927. WSP 1338: 1903-4, 1906, 1917, 1928, 1929(M). WSP 2113: Drainage area. WDR-ND-2002.

SURFACE-WATER RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - DAILY DISCHARGE--May 1903 to current year. Monthly discharge only for some periods, published in WSP 1308. Published as Mouse River at Minot, 1903-24, Souris River at Minot, 1927-28, 1929-34, and Souris River near Minot, 1928-29.

PERIOD OF RECORD.--DAILY GAGE HEIGHT--October 2000 to current year.

GAGE -

Water-stage recorder. Datum of the gage is 1546.88 feet above North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88) and 1545.75 feet above National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD29).

For a detailed gage datum history, please use the blue ‘questions or comments’ tab on the bottom of the site’s monitoring location page.

Previous gage locations and datums:

May 1903-March 1924; staff or chain gage located on a footbridge NW of the Great Northern Railroad roundhouse (east of current USGS station 05117600 Souris River at Broadway Bridge at Minot, ND) at a datum of 12.5 ft lower. In 1908, the footbridge was removed and replaced with another footbridge a few hundred feet downstream. This bridge is known as the Anne Street Viaduct in Minot, ND (also commonly called the main street footbridge). The datum did not change between these two bridges. Gage was operated by the USGS under the streamgage name of Mouse River at Minot, N. Dak. (published as Souris River at Minot, N. Dak., after 1927). Currently, this site has a station number of 05117700 and station name of Mouse (Souris) River at Minot, N.Dak., original site.

April 1924-September 1928; staff or chain gage located at Valker Bridge (8^th Ave SE Bridge in Minot, ND) at a datum of 18.4 ft lower. Gage was operated by the North Dakota State Engineer under the streamgage name of Mouse River at Minot, N. Dak. (published as Souris River at Minot, N. Dak., after 1927). Currently, this site has a station number of 05117800 and station name of Mouse (Souris) River at Minot, N. Dak. (Valker Bridge).

October 1928-September 1929; staff or wire-weight gage located at Saugstad Bridge (37^th Ave SE in Minot, ND) at a datum of 19.2 ft lower. Gage was operated by the North Dakota State Engineer under the stremgage name of Souris River near Minot, N. Dak. Currently, this site has a station number of 05118000 and station name of Souris River at Saugstad Bridge below Minot, N. Dak.

October 1929-September 1934; gage returned to staff or chain gage located at the Anne Street Viaduct in Minot, ND at a datum of 12.5 ft lower. Gage was operated by the USGS under the streamgage name of Mouse River at Minot, N. Dak. (published as Souris River at Minot, N. Dak., after 1927). Currently, the site has a station number of 05117700 and station name of Mouse (Souris) River at Minot, N.Dak., original site.

October 1934-current; stilling well type gage with continuous recording equipment located about 3.5 miles west of Minot, ND. Stilling well is located slightly downstream from the Ward County Road 17 bridge. Records are equivalent to previous years except those for periods of extreme low flow, as some industrial and sanitary waster waters enter the river between the historic site locations.

REMARKS - Accuracy of records for water years prior to 2014 are noted in the individual Annual Data Reports for those water years. For water years 2014 onward, records good except for estimated discharges, which are poor, unless otherwise noted.

REGULATION.--Flow regulated by reservoirs on Souris and Des Lacs Rivers, combined capacity, about 700,000 acre-ft; some small diversions for irrigation and municipal supply.

EXTREMES OUTSIDE PERIOD OF RECORD - Maximum stage in Minot occurred in 1881, and was at least 3 ft higher than 1904 peak of 21.9 ft (site and datum then in use), according to April 20, 1904, issue of Minot Daily Optic. Review of weather records and additional historic flood information suggest that the 1881 peak may have actually occurred in 1882.

WATER-QUALITY RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - Water year 1969 to current year.

PERIOD OF DAILY RECORD -

Water temperature - May 2019 to October 2023.

Specific conductance - May 2019 to October 2023.

Dissolved oxygen - May 2019 to October 2023.

REMARKS - Available periods of continuous water quality daily records are internally rated qualitatively as excellent, good, fair, or poor. For questions about periods of record and/or quality ratings, please send an email to gs-w-nd_nwisweb_data_inquiries@usgs.gov.