Severe flooding occurred on June 4-5, 2002, in the Maquoketa River Basin in Delaware, Dubuque, Jackson, and Jones Counties, following thunderstorm activity over east-central Iowa. The rain gage at Cascade, Iowa, recorded a 14-hour rainfall of 6.0 inches at noon on June 4. Radar indications estimated as much as 8 to 10 inches of rain fell in the upper-middle part of the Maquoketa River Basin. Peak discharges on the Maquoketa River at Monticello of 47,500 cubic feet per second (recurrence interval estimated to be greater than 500 years as computed using flood-estimation equations developed by the U.S. Geological Survey), and at the Maquoketa River near Maquoketa streamflow-gaging station of 47,900 cubic feet per second (recurrence interval about 50 years), were determined for the flood. The peak discharge of the 2002 flood is nearly equal that of the 1944 flood (48,000 cubic feet per second), the largest flood on record in the Maquoketa River Basin. The 2002 flood is the largest known flood in the North Fork Maquoketa River Basin. A peak discharge of 22,600 cubic feet per second (recurrence interval about 110 years) was determined for the flood at the North Fork Maquoketa River near Fulton gaging station. Information about the basin and flood history, the 2002 thunderstorms and associated flooding, and a profile of high-water marks are presented for selected reaches along the Maquoketa and North Fork Maquoketa Rivers.
