USGS Water-Year Summary 2024

05427718 YAHARA RIVER AT WINDSOR, WI

LOCATION - Lat 43°12'32", long 89°21'09" referenced to North American Datum of 1983, in NW 1/4 NE 1/4 sec.31, T.9 N., R.10 E., Dane County, WI, Hydrologic Unit 07090001, at bridge on road to Lake Windsor Country Club.

DRAINAGE AREA - 73.6 mi² of which 36.6 mi² probably is noncontributing.

SURFACE-WATER RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - February 1976 to December 1981, October 1989 to current year.

GAGE - Water-stage recorder and crest-stage gage. Datum of gage is 861.22 ft above North American Vertical Datum of 1988, from GPS.

COOPERATION - This station is operated in cooperation with Dane County Land and Water Resources Department, Capital Area Regional Planning Commission, and Department of Natural Resources.

REMARKS - Records are considered good, except for estimated discharges which are poor and other periods as noted below. For records prior to October 1, 2013, see remarks printed in the annual water-data reports. Gage-height telemeter at station. Records for 2014 water year are fair except those for estimated daily discharges, which are poor.

CLIMATOLOGICAL RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - Tipping bucket rain gage Oct. 1, 2013 to present.

INSTRUMENTATION - A Design Analysis H-340 SDI tipping bucket rain gage (8.00” funnel diameter) is used with a Campbell Scientific CR10 datalogger to record rainfall in increments of ~0.01 inches. Previously, a Sierra Misco rain gage was used, but the data were not published. The new Design Analysis rain gage (installed 9/27/13) is mounted on the top 2” pipe, approximately 6 feet above ground. The rain gage is located approximately 5 feet roadward (east) of the gage structure. The record for the DA rain gage starts 10/01/2014. Data are retrieved via a cellular modem. The rain gage is not heated, and is not covered in the winter, therefore snowfall that melts in the funnel is interpreted as snowmelt and is removed from the record. This particular rain gage can compensate for intense precipitation events, and output ranges from 0.009 per tip for low-intensity events up to ~0.014 per tip for intense events.

REMARKS - Data are recorded to the nearest 5 or 15 minutes in the datalogger, depending upon flow conditions at the site. WY14: Rainfall estimated to be 0.00 for Dec. 17, 27-28, 31, Jan. 16, 19, Feb. 18-19, and Mar. 7 because recorded precipitation was interpreted as collector snowmelt. Daily values are marked as estimated on Jan. 10 because recorded precipitation was interpreted as a combination of rainfall and some collector snowmelt. WY15: Rainfall estimated to be 0.00 for Nov. 29, Jan. 15, 17, 22, 24, Feb. 7-8, Mar. 6 and 23 because recorded precipitation was interpreted as collector snowmelt. Daily values are marked as estimated on Nov. 24 because recorded precipitation was interpreted as a combination of rainfall and some collector snowmelt. WY16: Rainfall estimated to be 0.00 for Nov. 24, Dec. 3, 5, 20, Jan. 2, 6, 30, Feb. 7, 17, Mar. 2, 5 because recorded precipitation was interpreted as collector snowmelt. Remarks.--Records are good except for estimated days, which are fair. All unit values and daily values are stored in ADAPS.

WATER-QUALITY RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - Samples collected Oct. 1975 to Sep. 1980, Oct. 1989 to current year.

PERIOD OF DAILY RECORD - Suspended sediment loads: Mar. 1990 to current year. Total phosphorus loads: Mar. 1990 to current year. Orthophosphorus loads: Oct. 1990 to Sep. 1992, Oct. 2010 to current year. Total Kjeldahl loads: Oct. 2010 to current year. Ammonia loads: Oct. 2010 to current year. Nitrate plus nitrate loads: Oct. 2010 to current year.

INSTRUMENTATION - Refrigerated water-quality autosampler since Mar. 1990.

REMARKS - Records good. Samples are point samples unless otherwise indicated. Daily loads and concentrations generated using GCLAS (Graphical Constituent Loading Analysis System) using linear interpolation between sample concentrations. For WY2013 and prior, a log-linear interpolation was used.