HydrionisGlobal Water Intelligence
HUC8 subbasin

Big Muddy

2 monitoring stations within this area in United States, holding 394 values between 1909 and 2026. A United States federal hydrologic unit at the eight-digit subbasin level — a drainage area, not a river. Many subbasins take the name of the largest river within them, and the gauges below are anywhere inside the area, including on tributaries.

United StatesHUC8 subbasin

The monitoring network within this area

Hydrionis holds 394 values from 2 gauges within it. Discharge is a property of a gauge and its reach, not of this drainage area, so this page reports the network and its records rather than a single figure.

2
Gauges
394
Values held
1909–2026
Record spans
Gauges within the Big Muddy huc8 subbasin
2 monitoring points, positioned as the publisher records them.
Gauges within the Big Muddy huc8 subbasinBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL, BIG MUDDY RIVER AT RTE 127 AT MURPHYSBORO, ILBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, ILBIG MUDDY RIVER AT RTE 127 AT MURPHYSBORO, IL

Flood peaks, as measured

This gauge's flood record, as measured. Unlike a daily mean it is the discharge at the moment the river was highest, which is the figure flood frequency analysis is built on.

Largest measured flow of each year at BIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL
The highest instantaneous discharge the publisher recorded in each year — a flood peak as measured, not a daily average of one. 1909–2025.
Shading marks when something was recorded, not what caused the line.
Largest measured flow of each year at BIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, ILLargest measured flow of each year at BIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL: BIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL in m³/s, from 1909 to 2025.Hurricane Katrina water and sanitation collapse05001,000m³/s19091926194119541969198319992015

Published by the gauge's own operator from its sub-daily record; Hydrionis stores the figure rather than recomputing it. A year the gauge did not cover produces no value rather than a low one, and the gaps are stated below the chart. A peak is a property of this gauge and its reach: a larger flood upstream or downstream of it is not in this series.

What the shaded periods are (1 event)

A shaded period marks when something was recorded, not what caused the shape of the line. Where the two coincide, they coincided.

Documented record — A documented event, compiled from cited sources after it happened. The dates are as good as the record, which for older events can mean the month rather than the day.

EventTypePeriodStandingAuthority
Hurricane Katrina water and sanitation collapseFlood2005-08-29 – 2005-09-30Documented record
Compiled record

Not shown on this chart

  • The 1976 drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • The 2022 drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • Yorkshire drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • Cantareira water crisis, São Paulo — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • Cape Town Day Zero — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • European drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
View the data behind this chart
Underlying data
PeriodBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL (m³/s)
1909300
1910224
1911311
1912246
1915250
1916462
1917277
1918264
1919267
1921138
1922289
1923255
192547.3
192694.3
1927309
1929229
1930334
1931104
1932215
1933360
193426.8
193690.3
1937348
1938162
1939309
1940151
194117.4
1942138
1943280
1944200
1945309
1946739
1947224
1948237
1949498
1950419
1951236
1952226
1953137
195449.8
1955163
195683.3
1957388
1959126
1960154
19611,215
1962207
1963169
1964405
1965138
1966144
196755.8
1969281
1970165
1971115
197263.7
1973138
1975172
197657.2
1977173
1978161
1979249
198082.1
1981101
1982171
1983334
1984146
1985222
198766.8
1988103
1989213
1990153
1991139
199397.7
1995394
1996402
1997101
1998233
1999136
2000138
200154.9
2002201
2003119
200488.1
2005125
2006198
2007120
2008272
2009125
2011399
2013161
2015164
2016243
2017272
2018227
2019179
2020157
2021161
2022115
2023202
202449.8
2025300

About this series

Everything below is a property of the data rather than a rating of it. There is deliberately no single confidence score: how much a gap matters depends on what you are about to do with the series, and only you know that.

Source
United States Geological Survey — National Water Information System · US Government work — public domain
How the values came to existMeasured
Period held1909–2025
Completeness87.2% of the periods in that span are held. Gaps are drawn as breaks and never interpolated.
Known gaps
  • 14 separate periods inside 1909–2025 hold no value. The longest runs from 1913 to 1914 — 2 years with no reading. They are drawn as breaks in the line and are never interpolated across.
ContinuityThe record begins in 1909 and is not continuous from it: 117 years separate the first value from the last, and 87% of the years between them are held. The span is not the record.
Last read from the publisher2026-08-31
RedistributionPermitted by the upstream licences
Commercial reusePermitted by the upstream licences. No Hydrionis access tier can widen this.
MethodologyHow this was produced

How much of the rain came back out

A discharge in cubic metres per second cannot be compared with anything: the larger number may only mean the larger catchment. Divided by the area draining to the gauge it becomes a depth of water over that land, which answers a question a reader already has — of the rain that fell here, how much came back out as river?

Water leaving the catchment above BIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL, as a depth
The year's flow spread over the land draining to this gauge, in millimetres — the same unit rainfall is measured in. 1971–2025.
Shading marks when something was recorded, not what caused the line.
Water leaving the catchment above BIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL, as a depthWater leaving the catchment above BIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL, as a depth: BIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL in mm, from 1971 to 2025.Hurricane Katrina water and sanitation collapse0200400600800mm19711978198519921999200620132020BIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1971: 140 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1972: 126 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1973: 448 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1974: 395 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1975: 422 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1976: 91.0 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1977: 169 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1978: 204 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1979: 495 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1980: 144 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1981: 169 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1982: 485 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1983: 611 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1984: 501 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1985: 561 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1986: 250 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1987: 117 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1988: 248 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1989: 400 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1990: 351 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1991: 353 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1992: 125 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1993: 543 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1994: 286 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1995: 363 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1996: 373 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1997: 344 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1998: 336 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 1999: 324 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2000: 172 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2001: 220 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2002: 415 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2003: 258 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2004: 239 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2005: 259 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2006: 410 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2007: 275 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2008: 519 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2009: 503 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2010: 236 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2011: 691 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2012: 153 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2013: 456 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2014: 345 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2015: 484 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2016: 491 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2017: 321 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2018: 409 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2019: 552 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2020: 410 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2021: 406 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2022: 357 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2023: 318 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2024: 208 mmBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL 2025: 451 mm

Computed by Hydrionis from the published annual mean flow and the catchment area the station's own publisher states. It is not a water balance: the difference between rainfall and runoff is not evaporation alone but also change in groundwater storage, water abstracted and taken elsewhere, and water imported by transfer schemes — which is why a catchment can yield more runoff than the rain that fell on it without anything being measured wrongly. A different area figure rescales every value here by the ratio between them.

What the shaded periods are (1 event)

A shaded period marks when something was recorded, not what caused the shape of the line. Where the two coincide, they coincided.

Documented record — A documented event, compiled from cited sources after it happened. The dates are as good as the record, which for older events can mean the month rather than the day.

EventTypePeriodStandingAuthority
Hurricane Katrina water and sanitation collapseFlood2005-08-29 – 2005-09-30Documented record
Compiled record

Not shown on this chart

  • The 1976 drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • The 2022 drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • Yorkshire drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • Cantareira water crisis, São Paulo — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • Cape Town Day Zero — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • European drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
View the data behind this chart
Underlying data
PeriodBIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, IL (mm)
1971140
1972126
1973448
1974395
1975422
197691.0
1977169
1978204
1979495
1980144
1981169
1982485
1983611
1984501
1985561
1986250
1987117
1988248
1989400
1990351
1991353
1992125
1993543
1994286
1995363
1996373
1997344
1998336
1999324
2000172
2001220
2002415
2003258
2004239
2005259
2006410
2007275
2008519
2009503
2010236
2011691
2012153
2013456
2014345
2015484
2016491
2017321
2018409
2019552
2020410
2021406
2022357
2023318
2024208
2025451

About this series

Everything below is a property of the data rather than a rating of it. There is deliberately no single confidence score: how much a gap matters depends on what you are about to do with the series, and only you know that.

Source
United States Geological Survey — National Water Information System · US Government work — public domain
How the values came to existDerived Computed by Hydrionis
Period held1971–2025
Completeness100.0% of the periods in that span are held.
ContinuityContinuous: every year from 1971 to 2025 is held.
Last read from the publisher2026-08-24
RedistributionPermitted by the upstream licences
Commercial reusePermitted by the upstream licences. No Hydrionis access tier can widen this.
MethodologyHow this was produced

Every gauge Hydrionis holds within this area

GaugeMeasuresValuesRecord
BIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, ILburned area within 50 km, catchment area, annual maximum river flow, mean river flow2061909–2026
BIG MUDDY RIVER AT RTE 127 AT MURPHYSBORO, ILburned area within 50 km, catchment area, annual maximum river flow, mean river flow1881916–2026

How these gauges were attached to this water

Assigned by the publisher to a numbered basin Every gauge here is assigned to this drainage area by its own publisher, which issues the area an official code — 07140106. A drainage area is not a river: it contains the tributaries as well as the main channel, and a gauge in it may be on any of them.

GaugeEvidenceEstablished
BIG MUDDY RIVER AT PLUMFIELD, ILStated by the publisher — USGS site service, huc_cd field — https://waterservices.usgs.gov/nwis/site/ ; named from the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset 8-digit HU (Subbasin) layer — https://hydro.nationalmap.gov/arcgis/rest/services/wbd/MapServer/42026-08-26
BIG MUDDY RIVER AT RTE 127 AT MURPHYSBORO, ILStated by the publisher — USGS site service, huc_cd field — https://waterservices.usgs.gov/nwis/site/ ; named from the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset 8-digit HU (Subbasin) layer — https://hydro.nationalmap.gov/arcgis/rest/services/wbd/MapServer/42026-08-26

What this record holds

Hydrionis decides which waters get a page, and which of those are offered to search, from what is actually held rather than from how the page reads. Five signals are counted; this record has 3 of them, which makes it a full profile.

SignalHeldCounts
Gauges holding a real record2no
Years spanned118yes, 20 or more
Values held394no
Distinct measurements4yes, 2 or more
Publishers measuring it2yes, 2 or more
Official identifiers1recorded, not counted

Use this data

Use this data

No bulk download is offered here, which is a licence position rather than a product one: at least one contributing publisher does not permit redistribution. The values can be read on the page, cited, and pointed to at source.

Attribution and citation

Suggested citation for Hydrionis

Hydrionis (2026), Big Muddy gauge records, accessed 2026-09-02, hydrionis.com/waters/united-states-big-muddy/

Cite Hydrionis where you rely on values Hydrionis computed, on the method that produced them, or on the compilation itself. The underlying measurements remain the publishers’ and their attribution requirements apply to you directly.

Recommended, not required. Hydrionis does not claim rights over unmodified public data it relayed, and doing arithmetic on somebody else’s measurements does not make them Hydrionis’s. Cite the version and the access date: the Big Muddy gauge records changes as publishers release and as methods are revised, and a citation without both cannot be checked later. Full guidance is on cite and reuse.

None of the contributing licences requires attribution. Crediting the publishers is still good practice and they are listed above.

Where these figures come from

MeasuredHigh confidence2025-04-09

Source: USGS — National Water Information System, USGS site 05597000, annual peak streamflow. Licence: Open.

Method: The instantaneous maximum discharge of each water year as published by USGS, dated to the day it occurred. One value per October-to-September water year; where the publisher lists both a systematic and a historic peak for a year, the larger is the annual maximum. Values the publisher marks as maximum daily averages are not held here, because they are not instantaneous peaks. Values marked as bounded rather than measured are held as censored observations carrying the bound. Cubic feet per second are converted to cubic metres per second and the publisher unit is recorded alongside.

Rating curves are extrapolated at extreme discharges, so the largest values in a peak series carry the largest measurement uncertainty. Data from the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System, a work of the United States government and therefore in the public domain.

Retrieved 31 August 2026.

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