User’s Guide & Examples

1. What Is Flow Scheduler?

Flow Scheduler is statistical tool for users to evaluate the likelihood of encountering stream flows and reservoir elevation levelss for varying dates in a year. Each gage or reservoir has its own Flow Scheduler page, with that station's daily historical records embedded directly in the file, with the option to update the historical record to the current date (understanding the latest dates may contain provisional data). The user can specify a period of record dates for analyses, or default to the gage period of record.

A companion landing page — the Gage Directory & Map — lets a user browse by state, river drainage basin, gage name, or USGS gage number, or simply click a marker on a basin map, to open the Flow Scheduler page for the station they're interested in. That landing page also presents a short legal disclaimer stating the program is to be used for informational use only, not a substitute for real-time monitoring or professional judgment.

The project currently covers the Rogue River drainage basin in Oregon, with 19 stations built so far — 17 streamflow (discharge) gages plus two reservoir-elevation stations (Lost Creek Lake and Applegate Lake). All river basins within the state of Oregon are planned for future additions as resources allow.

Five reports, generated from one analysis scenario

Once a user sets a few parameters, Flow Scheduler generates five reports from that station's historical record:

• Summary Hydrograph — mean daily flow (or reservoir elevation) statistics for each calendar day within the chosen analysis period: the typical shape of flow/elevation curves for a year on that river or reservoir, and maximum and minimum values. 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles included.
• % of Time Within Range — how often, on each calendar day, the historical record has fallen inside a flow or elevation range the user defines. The percentage of time the flow/elevation has fallen within the range and period of record specified.
• Likely Flow Range — Future Dates — Historical 25th / 50th / 75th percentile flow projected onto specific upcoming dates the user is interested in or planning for. Likely or normal range of flows for the upcoming dates of interest.
• Compare Dates to Normal Range — actual daily flow for a chosen date range, checked against the historical 25th–75th percentile “normal” range for those same calendar dates. How did the actual data compare to the statistical norms.
• Flow Scheduler Summary — a printable summary of the gage, its period of record, and the parameters used for that run.

Every report can be printed individually, and the underlying numbers behind each of the first four reports can be downloaded as a CSV file for further analysis in a spreadsheet.

2. Who May Find Flow Scheduler Useful?

Flow Scheduler is aimed at anyone who needs a fast, station-specific read on what a river or reservoir typically does on a given date — without downloading and analyzing raw records themselves. That includes:

• Anglers, boaters, and river guides planning a fishing, rafting, or paddling trip around dates when flows/elevations are typically in a workable range.
• Outfitters and trip planners comparing a season's historical flow pattern across many past years to choose which weeks to run trips or open bookings.
• Rafters/Kayakers using the tool to determine the best dates when a flow range is likely to occur to schedule river trips.
• Instream and streamside work crews — habitat restoration, bridge or culvert work, bank stabilization — identifying the historically driest, lowest-flow windows for safer equipment access.
• Irrigators and water-right holders checking the typical seasonal low-flow window before scheduling a future diversion or withdrawal.
• Families and recreational users checking whether a river is typically running high, low, or normal for a swimming, wading, or picnic outing on a specific date.
• Watershed councils, students, and researchers who want quick historical context — period of record, regulation history, embedded data gaps — for a station, without pulling and processing raw USGS data.
• Engineers-Hydrologists and permit applicants who need statistical context (typical flow range, percent-of-time-in-range) to support a proposed activity window.

3. How to Use Flow Scheduler

1. Open the Gage Directory & Map. Read and acknowledge the brief legal disclaimer — this is required once per browsing session.
2. Find your station. Choose a State, River Drainage Basin, and either a Gage Name or Gage Number from the dropdowns — the two stay in sync — or click a marker directly on the basin map. Selecting “Open selected gage” opens that station's own Flow Scheduler page.
3. Set your analysis period. This defines the historical window all five reports are built from. It defaults to the station's full period of record but can be narrowed to any date range.
4. Set a flow (or reservoir elevation) range of interest. Used by the “% of Time Within Range” report to show how often the historical record falls inside that range specified by the user.
5. Set a future focus window. The specific upcoming dates you want the “Likely Flow Range — Future Dates” report to cover (maximum one year).
6. Set dates to compare to normal, A specific date range checked against the historical 25th/50th/75th percentile “normal” range for those same calendar dates (maximum one year).
7. Run the analysis. Click “Run analysis →” to generate all five reports, or “Reset to full period of record” to start over with the station's full history period of record and the default maximum/miniume flow/elevation range of interest.
8. Review, print, or export. Switch between the five report tabs, print any tab individually, or download the data behind the calendar-day, percent-of-time, future-dates, or compare-to-normal reports as CSV files for use in a spreadsheet.

A few other things on every station page

• View gage location on map — opens the station's real-world location.
• View current real time gage data — links out to the operating entity site for that station's live, current readings.
• Update flow data —pulls the latest daily values from the operating entity to extend the embedded record.
• Back to Gage Directory & Map — returns to the station picker without re-showing the legal disclaimer for the rest of that browsing session.

4. Examples of Flow Scheduler Uses

Eight worked examples below, from real planning questions, show a full Flow Scheduler run end to end.

1

User: Fisherman, Fishing Guide.

Scenario: Upper Rogue River King salmon fishing trip planning. King Salmon typically arrive at the upper reach of the Rogue River Below Lost Creek Dam in late August through September. As a fishing guide, you know from experience the best flow rates for successful fishing range from 1,200 to 2,200 CFS below the dam. When should you schedule a trip for your client to maximize the chance of a successful trip.

Step #1: Open Flow Scheduler and Choose the appropriate gage, Rogue River Near Mcleod, OR USGS Gage 14337600

Step #2: Set up the analyses: The flow at this gage has been regulated by the Lost Creek Dam Since February 1977. Given this information, the flow scheduler set up page will be set the period of record for analyses to 01/01/1978 to the current date. The flow range of interest will be 1,200 to 2,200 CFS. Our future focus window is 08/21/2027 to 09/30/2027.

Step #3: Run Analyses and look over the results. The % of time flow is within the best range for drift boat fishing shows the first 3 weeks of september will give the best liklihood of optimal flows for fishing. Based on optimal flows of 1200-2200 cfs, the first 3 weeks of september are prime dates for King Salmon fishing.

2

User: Recreational Boater

Scenario: The Stewart State Park Boat Ramp on lost Creek Reservoir Oregon becomes unusable at an elevation below 1812 ft. What boating dates should I avoid maximizing my chance of successfully launching my boat?

Analysis set up:

Results:

Avoid the dates of September Through mid-January to maximize your chance of a successful boat launch (reservoir elevation greater than 1812 ft).

3

User: Hydrologist/Engineer/Fish Biologist

Scenario: The Applegate River Near Copper, OR gage is located just below the Applegate Dam (construction finished in 1980). Regulation of flows below the dam started December 1980. What changes in timing and magnitude of flows have occurred since the Dam regulated flows? What is the difference in regulated and unregulated flows at the gage?

The period of record for flows at the gage is 10/1/1938 to the present. The approximate Period of unregulated flow at the gage is 10/1/1938 to 11/30/1980. The approximate regulated flow period is 12/1/1980 to the present. Looking at the unregulated flow period first;

Next look at the regulated flow period 12/1/1980 to the present:

One can see a large difference between regulated and unregulated flows at the gage based on the summary hydrograph 50th percentile or median flows. After Downloading the data for the regulated and unregulated runs and plotting the median values in excel,

Regulated flows are typically higher for the period from mid June to the beginning of December compared to unregulated flows. Unregulated flows are typically higher from February to mid-June.

4

User: General Recreationist

Scenario: You have vacation scheduled for June 3rd- June 9th in 2027. You have a camp site reserved near the Illinois River Near Agness, OR gage, and plan on fishing and swimming in the river on these dates. What range of river flows can I expect on these dates?

Set up the analysis data future focus data for the planned vacation days.

Run the analysis;

The Likely flow range for future dates shows the following based on the historical data.

The normal range of flows for these dates range from about 750 to 1495 cfs. If this range of flows meets your recreational needs, then these may be good days to be on the river. If the range of flows is outside your recreation requirements, you may want to reschedule for different dates.

5

User: Irrigation District/Water District/Agency Regulators

Scenario: A new landowner has a water right to divert water from the Illinois River for the dates May 1st to June 15th when there is excess water in the river during the spring runoff. The diversion is located just downstream from the Illinois River Near Agness, OR USGS Gage 14378200. The right specifies that a diversion rate of 1 cfs is allowed when the flow at the gage is equal to or greater than 1,250 cfs. What is the likelihood of the landowner being able to divert water in May and June?

Set up the analysis below.

Results:

For May 1st, through June 15th, The % of time historical flows were greater than or equal to 1,250 cfs are presented below.

Based on the historical flows, the water right holder has a high likelihood of being able to divert water from May 1st to May 28th, with the diversion likely shut off from May 29th to Jun 15.

6

User: Municipality/Engineer/Contractor/Regulating Agency

Scenario: A city water diversion structure was damaged during a large flood event. City planners need to schedule for repair. The regulating agency has determined the instream work window at this location is June 15th through September 15th. Flows must be less than 2000 cfs for contractors to access the structure. The gage Rogue River at Grants Pass, OR

(USGS Gage 14361500) is located just upstream of the structure. When are the best dates when access to the structure is likely. Flows at the gage have been regulated by upstream reservoirs since 1977.

Set up the analysis below and run.

Results:

Based on historical data, the best dates are July 15th through August 15th, and September 10th through September 15th --to have access to the structure.

7

User: All

Scenario: Users would like to investigate the typical stream flow patterns at a gage of interest.

Setup the analysis and run for a stream site.

Results

The Summary Hydrograph Shows the Maximum, Minimum 75th, 50th, and 25th percentiles for the period of record chosen. To better see the yearly trend of flows uncheck the minimum and maximum boxes at the top of the chart.

Now the user gets a better idea of the flow pattern by date showing the typical pattern and normal flow range statistics.

8

User: All

Scenario: Users would like to investigate the typical reservoir elevation patterns at a gage of interest.

Setup:

Results:

The Summary Hydrograph Shows the Maximum, Minimum 75th, 50th, and 25th percentiles for the period of record chosen. To better see the yearly trend of elevations uncheck the minimum and maximum boxes at the top of the chart.

Now the user gets a better idea of the elevation pattern by date showing the typical pattern and normal elevation range statistics.