About this river
Big Blue River is a 20.7 mile river near Milford Lake Yacht Club in Kansas. Streamflow is measured at the USGS gauge Big Blue R near Manhattan, KS (site 06887000). The National Hydrography Dataset places it at stream order 8. Reach geometry comes from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset.
Typical flow by month
1951 to 2026
Big Blue River typically runs highest in June, at a median 2,075 cfs, and lowest in January, at 498 cfs. The highest flow on record for any single day is 86,400 cfs, in 1951.
| Month | Typical (cfs) | Usual range (cfs) | Relative level |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 498 | 331 to 928 | |
| February | 620 | 368 to 1,320 | |
| March | 765 | 397 to 1,670 | |
| April | 819 | 442 to 2,460 | |
| May | 1,640 | 523 to 4,510 | |
| June | 2,075 | 825 to 5,980 | |
| July | 1,500 | 687 to 5,240 | |
| August | 886 | 450 to 2,010 | |
| September | 703 | 395 to 1,870 | |
| October | 544 | 292 to 1,490 | |
| November | 568 | 363 to 1,260 | |
| December | 614 | 358 to 1,720 |
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 76 years of record. Statistics published by the US Geological Survey for Big Blue R near Manhattan, KS (site 06887000). Conditions on any given day can fall well outside the usual range. Check the current reading before you go.
Boat access nearby
2 mapped launches sit in the mapped area of Big Blue River, all of them public access. Ramp data comes from the USGS national boat-ramp inventory.
Embed this gauge on your site
Paste this snippet anywhere, an outfitter page, a club site, a trip report, to show Big Blue 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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