Gunnison River at Delta Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Gunnison River at Delta in CO, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location CO, United States
- Watershed lower gunnison
- Primary gauge 09144250 (USGS)
About Gunnison River at Delta
The Gunnison River at Delta is in the Lower Gunnison watershed in Colorado.
What the record shows
The record span here is more than 50 years. The highest level in the file is 8.91 ft (2.72 m) in May 2023, and the lowest is 1.15 ft (0.35 m) in July 2026.
The seasonal pattern peaks in May, with a typical level of 2.7 ft (0.82 m), and bottoms out in February, with a typical level of 1.54 ft (0.47 m). That gap is the day-to-day shape this river asks docks, pumps, and intake setups to live with through the year. The typical annual swing is 13.9 in (35.4 cm), which is the amount of room a fixed setup has to accommodate across the usual cycle.
No fastest 24-hour rise is listed in the facts, so there is nothing to add on short-notice change.
The watershed
The gauge drains 5,636 sq mi (14,597 km2) upstream of this station. That is the area feeding the reading at Delta, not the whole Lower Gunnison watershed.
For people using the river, that upstream area matters because it is the land setting the flow at the gauge. In a snowmelt-dominated mountain basin, the broad seasonal rise usually arrives in late spring, while winter can stay low for a long stretch. The record here fits that general rhythm, with May as the highest typical month and February as the lowest.
Reading the hero number
The number shown on the page is best read against the median for the same calendar day in the station’s record, not as raw elevation alone. A stage value by itself only says where the water surface sits right now; the calendar-day median says whether today is running above or below what is normal for this date at this site.
That matters on the Gunnison because a level that looks modest in one season can be high for another, and a similar-looking number can mean very different conditions for boating, bank access, or an intake. Water Survey of Canada is not the source here; this station is USGS, with more than 50 years on record.
How this page is built
Readings come from official government gauges and are rolled into daily records: the daily mean, high and low for every day on record. Each calendar day gets its own baseline from the full history, so the level you see is compared against what this specific date usually looks like rather than an annual average.
How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories
Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK
Real-time water levels, forecasts, and alerts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 13,000 gauged lakes and rivers across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, and the Environment Agency for England. Every number on the platform is measured, not modelled - taken from a government gauge on the water itself and compared against that location's own historical record for this exact date.
What you can see for any monitored lake or river
The level right now, in feet or metres, updated as the source agency publishes new readings - for many stations that is every five to fifteen minutes. How today compares to typical: every location carries its own typical-for-this-date band built from its historical record, so a reading is never just a number - it is above, below, or near what this water usually does on this calendar day. Which way it is moving: a measured RISING, FALLING, or STEADY verdict computed from the gauge's own recent readings, with the rate of change - the difference between a flood ending and one beginning. What comes next: level forecasts up to 72 hours ahead, driven by the gauge's recent behaviour, upstream water, and quantitative precipitation forecasts, alongside live radar, lightning, and weather for the surrounding region.
Alerts that watch the water for you
Set a threshold on any location - a level, a distance above typical, or a rate of climb - and Nibi emails or notifies you the moment the gauge crosses it. Cottagers use it for spring freshet, anglers for river conditions, marinas and municipalities for operations. The scanning runs around the clock against the same measured data shown on every page.
Where Nibi comes from
Nibi means water in Anishinaabemowin. The platform began at a family cottage on Lake Muskoka, Ontario, where the spring melt floods the shoreline most years and the only forecast was standing on the dock, looking, and guessing. It grew into an independent, member-funded platform run by Muskoka Research Inc. - no investors, no data resale, and a privacy policy shorter than most cookie banners. The core data is free for everyone, forever; paid plans add automation like multi-location alerts, deep history, and reports.
Coverage
Nibi spans the continent: every Canadian province and territory with active federal gauges - from Vancouver Island rivers to the Muskoka lakes, prairie reservoirs, and Quebec's hydrometric network - and the United States from Maine to the Texas Hill Country, the Ohio Valley, and the Pacific Northwest. Coverage grows where the water news is: when a basin floods, its gauges join the platform with their full historical records attached. Many stations report every five to fifteen minutes; most report at least hourly; every page states exactly when its gauge last spoke.
Free forever, funded by members
The core promise is simple: the water data is free, for everyone, forever. Live levels, maps, radar, and recent history never sit behind a paywall. Paid plans fund the platform by adding automation - multi-location alerts, decades of history, longer forecasts, and PDF reports - so the people who need more carry the cost for everyone who just needs to check the lake before driving up. There are no investors and no advertising deals shaping what the data says.
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How every number is computed - About the platform
