About this river
Cottonwood River is a 29.8 mile river near Council Grove Marina in Kansas. Streamflow is measured at the USGS gauge Cottonwood R near Plymouth, KS (site 07182250). The National Hydrography Dataset places it at stream order 7. Reach geometry comes from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset.
Typical flow by month
1964 to 2026
Cottonwood River typically runs highest in June, at a median 688 cfs, and lowest in October, at 119 cfs. The highest flow on record for any single day is 73,500 cfs, in 1999.
| Month | Typical (cfs) | Usual range (cfs) | Relative level |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 190 | 78 to 425 | |
| February | 246 | 92 to 557 | |
| March | 396 | 116 to 894 | |
| April | 524 | 178 to 1,025 | |
| May | 617 | 299 to 1,610 | |
| June | 688 | 291 to 1,760 | |
| July | 288 | 110 to 702 | |
| August | 166 | 64 to 332 | |
| September | 131 | 57 to 313 | |
| October | 119 | 50 to 320 | |
| November | 171 | 68 to 433 | |
| December | 167 | 79 to 433 |
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 63 years of record. Statistics published by the US Geological Survey for Cottonwood R near Plymouth, KS (site 07182250). Conditions on any given day can fall well outside the usual range. Check the current reading before you go.
Boat access nearby
One mapped launch sits in the mapped area of Cottonwood River. 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 Cottonwood River's live streamflow, water level and 7-day trend. It reads the USGS gauge directly, updates itself, and links back here.
See every free widget you can put on your site, including live conditions and a 7 day forecast.
