Anybody know the answer?

[Al]

I agree with all of the above, however personal experience makes me suspicious of 367 cfs for a 3 ft.   gauge height at Lajitas.

Viper, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take an acoustic doppler velocimeter and perform a complete survey of the river gauge at Lajitas in order to determine the actual flow rate for a gauge height of 3 ft. Should any team member be caught or detained, any knowledge of your actions would be disavowed. Good luck, this message will self destruct in five seconds. 

Where is the water level gauge at Lajitas?  I've been Google Earthing it and can only guess.

Al

[01ACRViper]

couldn't find the gauge data for lajitas, must not be linked to the USGS page

but yeah, that would be a good explanation, error 

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv/?site_no=08374550&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv/?site_no=08375300&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060

[Al]

This qualification by USGS says it all.

Provisional data for Texas

Recent data provided by the USGS in Texas -- including stream discharge, water levels, precipitation, and components from water-quality monitors--are preliminary and have not received final approval.

Most data relayed by satellite or other telemetry have received little or no review. Inaccuracies in the data may be present because of instrument malfunctions or physical changes at the measurement site. Subsequent review may result in significant revisions to the data.

Data users are cautioned to consider carefully the provisional nature of the information before using it for decisions that concern personal or public safety or the conduct of business that involves substantial monetary or operational consequences.

Information concerning the accuracy and appropriate uses of these data or concerning other hydrologic data may be obtained from the station manager, whose name is shown on the single station data summary pages, or from the USGS surface-water specialist in Texas care of the webmaster email alias Texas NWISWeb Maintainer. 

Al

[01ACRViper]

This qualification by USGS says it all.

Provisional data for Texas

Recent data provided by the USGS in Texas -- including stream discharge, water levels, precipitation, and components from water-quality monitors--are preliminary and have not received final approval.

Most data relayed by satellite or other telemetry have received little or no review. Inaccuracies in the data may be present because of instrument malfunctions or physical changes at the measurement site. Subsequent review may result in significant revisions to the data.

Data users are cautioned to consider carefully the provisional nature of the information before using it for decisions that concern personal or public safety or the conduct of business that involves substantial monetary or operational consequences.

Information concerning the accuracy and appropriate uses of these data or concerning other hydrologic data may be obtained from the station manager, whose name is shown on the single station data summary pages, or from the USGS surface-water specialist in Texas care of the webmaster email alias Texas NWISWeb Maintainer. 

Al

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv?cb_00065=on&cb_00060=on&format=gif_default&period=31&site_no=08374550

if you look at the discharge data, the x in the bottom of the graph denotes that the hydrogeologist that went out and measured that station manually got a a vastly different outcome than the rating curve showed, which should also raise a flag

[Al]

Almost 2 orders of magnitude difference.  Excellent observation Viper!

Al

[rgibson]

The gauge at Lajitas is off.
 
I kept the weather and river gauge for six years.

Had to adjust the readings to compensate.  The Trading Post had kept the records since day one of readings (probably since 1899).

Sold the Trading Post in 1998 and the new owner wanted no part of the NWS.

The TPWL took over and the some of the folks have changed, so maybe new readers  do not know?

Assume that is the same problem.    All the equations provided were nice, but maybe not applicable.

The underground river is real and alot of water goes in all the time at places.  The Rio Grande went dry a not too many years back.
The timing was terrible since the Secr of the Interior was visiting the BBNP and alot of press was given to the fact she had to cancel her river trip, since no river.

Of course, the next week when the rains came, there was no mention of  Rio having water and great raft trips.

I agree with all of the above, however personal experience makes me suspicious of 367 cfs for a 3 ft.   gauge height at Lajitas.

Viper, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take an acoustic doppler velocimeter and perform a complete survey of the river gauge at Lajitas in order to determine the actual flow rate for a gauge height of 3 ft. Should any team member be caught or detained, any knowledge of your actions would be disavowed. Good luck, this message will self destruct in five seconds. 

[Hoodoo]

The gauge at Lajitas is off.
 
I kept the weather and river gauge for six years.

Had to adjust the readings to compensate.  The Trading Post had kept the records since day one of readings (probably since 1899).

Sold the Trading Post in 1998 and the new owner wanted no part of the NWS.

The TPWL took over and the some of the folks have changed, so maybe new readers  do not know?

Thanks Roger, I knew something had to have changed.

Where is the water level gauge at Lajitas?  I've been Google Earthing it and can only guess.

Al

Al, I have only been to it once, and as I recall it was basically a flood gauge submerged in the river somewhere behind the trading post that had to be visually inspected on a daily basis.

couldn't find the gauge data for lajitas, must not be linked to the USGS page

This is the best link I have found to the Lajitas gauge online. LJT Click on a data point to see the tabular data with flow rates.

[Al]

Hoodoo, an excellent link. Thank you. 

3' (three feet) translates to about 400 cubic feet per second.

Al

[Hoodoo]

3' (three feet) translates to about 400 cubic feet per second.

  Looks like the NWS has updated the link to agree with the one Badknees posted.

I thought this data was more accurate,

The same source but a different page in their website shows the flow at Lajitas to be 0.0136 KFS or 13.6 CFS for a stage of 3 ft.

I don’t know if 13.6 CFS is any more accurate than 367 CFS but I am highly suspicious of 367 CFS being accurate for the current stage level. 

But then again what do I know. I'm certainly no expert.