Stanislaus River level at Ripon
California · Fishing & wading
Measured at USGS 11303000 — STANISLAUS R A RIPON CA · NWS forecast point RIPC1
Reading taken · as of 18 min ago
Below normal — good wading, low and clear
At 171 CFS, this gauge is running 65% of normal for mid-September — below the 262 CFS median USGS has recorded for this date across 85 years of record (1941–2026).
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Flood stages at Ripon
National Weather Service categories for gauge RIPC1, WFO STO. Impact wording is the NWS's own, verbatim.
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Minor flood 60.0 ft
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Action 55.0 ft
- Right now 37.90 ft
NWS forecast: 37.87 ft by .
Flow history at Ripon
Daily values from USGS 11303000, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for RIPC1 reissued through the day. Provisional.
About Stanislaus River at Ripon
In California, below New Melones Lake. Releases can change the flow by hundreds of CFS in an hour with no rain in the basin — check it the morning you go, not the night before.
Reservoir feeding this stretch
Flow here is set by releases from New Melones Lake. A full pool usually means more water on its way down.
Stanislaus River at Ripon — common questions
3 questions
How do releases from New Melones Lake affect this stretch?
Directly and fast. When the dam generates, flow here can climb by an order of magnitude within the hour, with no rain anywhere in the basin. That sudden release is the real hazard on a tailwater. The pool level is on lakelvl.com, linked below.
Is Stanislaus River at Ripon high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for mid-September here is 262 CFS, from 85 years of record (1941–2026). Today is 65% of it. The comparison is what makes the raw number mean anything: the same reading is a drought on one river and a flood on another.
How often does this reading update?
USGS transmits from gauge 11303000 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for RIPC1 a few times a day — more often when the river is rising. This page refreshes from both when you open it. The timestamp is in the gauge's local time.