page_title: Course of the Rogue River (Oregon)
section_title: Discharge
hierarchical_section_title: Course of the Rogue River (Oregon) / Discharge
caption_attribution_description: English: Downstream of Natural Bridge on the Rogue River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The bridge consists of hardened lava through which the entire river flows through lava tubes for about 250 feet (76&#160;m). The artificial bridge in the background is for pedestrians visiting the natural bridge.
context_page_description: The Rogue River in the U.S. state of Oregon begins at Boundary Springs on the border between Klamath and Douglas counties near the northern edge of Crater Lake National Park. The Rogue River flows generally west for 215 miles from the Cascade Range through the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest and the Klamath Mountains to the Pacific Ocean at Gold Beach. Communities along its course include Union Creek, Prospect, Trail, Shady Cove, Gold Hill, and Rogue River, all in Jackson County; Grants Pass, and Galice in Josephine County, and Agness, Wedderburn and Gold Beach in Curry County. Significant tributaries include the South Fork Rogue River, Elk Creek, Bear Creek, the Applegate River, and the Illinois River. Arising at 5,320 feet above sea level, the river loses more than 1 mile in elevation by the time it reaches the Pacific.
  Of the river's total length, 124 miles, or about 58 percent, is designated as National Wild and Scenic River – part on the upper Rogue and part on the lower Rogue. The Rogue is one of only three rivers that start in or east of the Cascade Mountain Range in Oregon and reach the Pacific Ocean. The others are the Umpqua River and Klamath River.
context_section_description: The United States Geological Survey (USGS) operates five stream gauges along the Rogue River. A gauge 2 miles (3.2 km) downstream of Prospect and 169.4 miles (272.6 km) from the mouth of the river recorded an average discharge of 1,453 cubic feet per second (41 m³/s) between 1969 and 2007. Fluctuations caused by a power plant 600 feet (180 m) upstream affected the flow as did small diversions for irrigation. The maximum flow recorded at this station was 12,200 cubic feet per second (345 m³/s) on January 1, 1997. The minimum flow, related to regulation by upstream diversion gates, was 166 cubic feet per second (5 m³/s) on September 29, 1992. Before the period of record for this gauge, the maximum flow since at least 1890, based on flood marks and on records from downstream gauge stations, was 25,000 cubic feet per second (708 m³/s) on December 22, 1964. The Prospect gauge measures the flow from an area of 379 square miles (980 km²), which is about 7 percent of the Rogue watershed.
  At Dodge Bridge near Eagle Point, a gauge recorded an average flow of 2,636 cubic feet per second (75 m³/s) between 1939 and 1977 and 2,389 cubic feet per second (68 m³/s) between 1978 and 2007. The flow was regulated by Lost Creek Lake after 1977. The maximum discharge recorded at this station was 87,600 cubic feet per second (2,481 m³/s) on December 22, 1964, and the minimum was 567 cubic feet per second (16 m³/s) on February 18, 1977, because of the closure of the Lost Creek dam. Before that, the minimum was 611 cubic feet per second (17 m³/s) on August 6, 14, and 29, 1940, and September 9, 1940. This gauge, 4.3 miles (6.9 km) northwest of Eagle Point and 138.6 miles (223.1 km) from the mouth of the river, measures the flow from an area of 1,215 square miles (3,150 km²), about 23 percent of the Rogue watershed.
  Just below Gold Ray Dam, 5.6 miles (9.0 km) northwest of Central Point at river mile (RM) 125.8 or river kilometer (RK) 202.5, a gauge recorded an average flow of 2,998 cubic feet per second (85 m³/s) between 1906 and 1976 and 2,809 cubic feet per second (80 m³/s) between 1977 and 2007. Starting in 1977, the flow was regulated by Lost Creek Lake and slightly regulated by Fish Lake and Emigrant Lake. Many irrigation diversions operate upstream of this gauge, which measures flow from a drainage area of 2,053 square miles (5,320 km²), about 40 percent of the Rogue watershed. The maximum discharge recorded at this station was 131,000 cubic feet per second (3,710 m³/s) on December 23, 1964, and the minimum discharge was 418 cubic feet per second (12 m³/s) on September 19, 1968, a result of regulation.
  A gauge at Grants Pass, 101.9 miles (164.0 km) from the river mouth, recorded an average discharge of 3,543 cubic feet per second (100 m³/s) during the years from 1939 to 1977 and 3,246 cubic feet per second (92 m³/s) for the years from 1978 through 2007. Maximum flow was 152,000 cubic feet per second (4,300 m³/s) on December 23, 1964, and the minimum flow was 195 cubic feet per second (6 m³/s) on January 30, 1961. The drainage area above this gauge was 2,459 square miles (6,370 km²), roughly 48 percent of the Rogue watershed.
  The average discharge recorded by a gauge 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Agness, 2.6 miles (4.2 km) upstream of the Illinois River and at RM 29.7 or RK 47.8 was 6,622 cubic feet per second (188 m³/s). The maximum discharge during this period was 290,000 cubic feet per second (8,200 m³/s) on December 23, 1964, and the minimum discharge was 608 cubic feet per second (17 m³/s) on July 9 and 10, 1968. This was from a drainage basin of 3,939 square miles (10,202 km²), or about 76 percent of the entire Rogue watershed.
caption: Below Natural Bridge on the upper river
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