About this river
Cottonwood River is a 7.7 mile river near Melvern Lake Marina Inc in Kansas. Streamflow is measured at the USGS gauge Cottonwood R at Emporia, KS (site 07182260). The National Hydrography Dataset places it at stream order 7. Reach geometry comes from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset.
Typical flow by month
2014 to 2026
Cottonwood River typically runs highest in June, at a median 861 cfs, and lowest in October, at 113 cfs. The highest flow on record for any single day is 27,500 cfs, in 2025.
| Month | Typical (cfs) | Usual range (cfs) | Relative level |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 179 | 96 to 533 | |
| February | 246 | 113 to 509 | |
| March | 223 | 123 to 871 | |
| April | 389 | 145 to 860 | |
| May | 722 | 258 to 2,240 | |
| June | 861 | 371 to 1,925 | |
| July | 362 | 162 to 1,150 | |
| August | 234 | 102 to 582 | |
| September | 137 | 81 to 420 | |
| October | 113 | 61 to 510 | |
| November | 184 | 78 to 333 | |
| December | 179 | 95 to 422 |
Typical is the median of each month’s daily median values, and the usual range runs from the median 25th to the median 75th percentile, across about 13 years of record. Statistics published by the US Geological Survey for Cottonwood R at Emporia, KS (site 07182260). Conditions on any given day can fall well outside the usual range. Check the current reading before you go.
Embed this gauge on your site
Paste this snippet anywhere, an outfitter page, a club site, a trip report, to show Cottonwood River's live streamflow, water level and 7-day trend. It reads the USGS gauge directly, updates itself, and links back here.
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