TCFS--Thousand Cubic Feet per Second

TCFS is a measure of water flow in which one thousand cubic feet of water passes a measuring point in a second. You may convert from flows measure in MAF/yr to flows in TCFS by multiplying by 1.38. For example, a flow of 10 MAF/year corresponds to a flow of 13.8 TCFS or 13,800 cfs (cubic feet per second).

In his Preface to The Snake River: Window to the West, Palmer (1991) uses this measure to help us think of creeks and rivers of different sizes:

100 cfs	could be considered a creek
300 cfs	in a small channel will float a canoe and might be as wide as a four lane highway
1,000 cfs	a flow of 1 TCFS would be a small river
2,000 cfs	a flow of 2 TCFS can float large rafts even in a wide riverbed and might be seen in summer flows at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming
5,000 cfs	a flow of 5 TCFS or more would be a large river