Largest rivers in Arizona by average flow
Active USGS stream gauges in Arizona, ranked by average flow. The Colorado River near Grand Canyon, AZ gauge leads with 14,696 cfs.
| Rank | Name | Average flow |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado River near Grand Canyon, AZ | 14,696 cfs |
| 2 | Colorado River at Lees Ferry, AZ | 14,191 cfs |
| 3 | Colorado Rvr above Diamond Creek near Peach Springs AZ | 13,662 cfs |
| 4 | Salt River below Stewart Mountain Dam, AZ | 822 cfs |
| 5 | Salt River near Roosevelt, AZ | 646 cfs |
| 6 | Colorado Rvr above Ocean to Ocean Bridge near Yuma, AZ | 590 cfs |
| 7 | Salt River near Chrysotile, AZ | 505 cfs |
| 8 | Little Colorado River near Joseph City, AZ | 478 cfs |
| 9 | Puerco River near Chambers, AZ | 472 cfs |
| 10 | Verde River below Bartlett Dam, AZ | 462 cfs |
| 11 | Verde River near Scottsdale, AZ | 431 cfs |
| 12 | Gila River at Kelvin, AZ | 387 cfs |
| 13 | Gila River below Gillespie Dam, Az (Low-Flow Station) | 363 cfs |
| 14 | Verde Rvr below Tangle Creek, above Horseshoe Dam, AZ | 362 cfs |
| 15 | Little Colorado River above Mouth near Desert View, AZ | 328 cfs |
| 16 | Gila River at Head of Safford Valley, near Solomon, | 327 cfs |
| 17 | Gila River at Estrella Parkway, near Goodyear, AZ | 324 cfs |
| 18 | Gila River below Coolidge Dam, AZ | 322 cfs |
| 19 | Gila River below Painted Rock Dam, AZ | 319 cfs |
| 20 | Black River near Fort Apache, AZ | 279 cfs |
| 21 | Verde River near Camp Verde, AZ | 248 cfs |
| 22 | Gila River at Calva, AZ | 237 cfs |
| 23 | Gila River near Dome, AZ | 210 cfs |
| 24 | Virgin Rv at Littlefield, AZ | 191 cfs |
| 25 | Wellton-Mohawk Main Outlet Drain near Yuma, AZ | 185 cfs |
| 26 | Crir Lwr Main Drain below Tyson Ww, near Ehrenberg, AZ | 171 cfs |
| 27 | Black Rvr below Pumping Plant, near Point of Pines, AZ | 165 cfs |
| 28 | White River near Fort Apache, AZ | 154 cfs |
| 29 | Verde River above Camp Verde, AZ | 150 cfs |
| 30 | San Francisco River at Clifton, AZ | 148 cfs |
How the Average flow figures spread in Arizona
- The ranking covers the 160 gauges in Arizona that have a recorded average flow in this dataset.
- The highest is Colorado River near Grand Canyon, AZ at 14,696 cfs; the lowest is Skunk Creek near Phoenix, AZ at 0.0 cfs.
- The median average flow is 16.1 cfs.
- The gap between #1 Colorado River near Grand Canyon, AZ and #2 Colorado River at Lees Ferry, AZ is 505 cfs.
- The page table lists the top 30.
Data: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) (public domain, U.S. federal data).· Updated 2026-11-02 · Text generated from the data and checked against it.
Live values are provisional USGS data. Measurements only, not a safety assessment — for flood warnings see the National Weather Service.