Click the link to read the article on the Pagosa Springs Sun website (Clayton Chaney). Here’s an excerpt:
September 24, 2026
Pagosa Country has experienced both record-low river levels and flooding that caused closures over the last week, including the ongoing closure of Chimney Rock National Monument. The San Juan River in downtown Pagosa Springs hit a new record low flow on Thursday, Sept 10, falling below 12 cubic feet per second (cfs), before trending back up with this week’s rains. On Friday, Sept. 11, the Piedra River near Arboles set a new record low flow of 10.4 cfs. The previous record for that day was set in 2018 at 17.3 cfs. By Wednesday morning, the San Juan River was flowing above 60 cfs, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and had an instantaneous reading over 55.1 cfs at 2 p.m. According to 90 water years of USGS records, the record low flow for Sept. 16 was set in 2018 at 12.9 cfs. The record high was recorded in 1970 at 1,190 cfs. The median cfs for that date is 85 cfs, and the mean is 144 cfs. As of 2 p.m. on Wednesday, the Piedra River was flowing at a rate of 25.2 cfs. According to 63 water years of USGS records, the record low for that date was set in 2018 at 11.2 cfs, and the record high was set in 1970 at 1,630 cfs. The mean flow for that date is 216 cfs, and the median flow is 123 cfs. Pagosa County experienced multiple rain events beginning on Monday, Sept. 14, with reports from the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network in Archuleta County showing anywhere from just under an inch to more than 2 inches of rain received from Monday to Wednesday.
The most recent drought map released by the U.S. Drought Monitor was published on Sept. 10, before the area’s most recent rain events, and shows just over 50 percent of Archuleta County being in a stage three, extreme drought. That was up from just over 22 percent of the county falling under extreme drought as of Sept. 1.
