Low-flow characteristics in the Red Cedar River basin, Wis., where surplus water may be diverted, and methods to determine low-flow characteristics at additional sites are presented. The low-flow characteristics were determined by various methods at 71 sites. For the three gaging stations in the basin, frequency analysis was used to determine the low-flow characteristics. At 17 partial-record sites correlation analyses were used to estimate the low-flow characteristics. Where only a single base-flow measurement was available (41 sites), equations were developed to estimate low-flow characteristics. The relationships were determined from multiple-regression analyses that related low-flow characteristics at gaging stations, low-flow partial-record stations, and sewage-treatment-plant sites to the drainage area and base-flow index values. The standard errors of estimate were determined to be 25 percent for the Q7,2 equation and 34 percent for the Q7,10 equation. For the main stem of the Red Cedar River where only one discharge measurement was available the low-flow characteristics were determined from a drainage area-discharge relationship. Low-flow characteristics were determined at an additional 30 sites in the Red Cedar River basin by various methods. The method used for these sites depended upon the type and amount of data available at each site.
