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<br />Introduction <br /> <br />This report provides information about coordination efforts in 1999 to manage late summer and <br />fall water supplies in the Historic User's Pool (HUP) of Green Mountain Reservoir, Ruedi <br />Reservoir, Wolford Mountain Reservoir, and four other reservoirs in western Colorado. By <br />coordinating irrigation diversions in the Grand Valley with releases from these reservoirs, flows <br />in the 15 Mile Reach of the Colorado River were maintained to support endangered fish habitat, <br /> <br />Attachment A provides a chronology of the events that led to this coordination effort, including <br />background information on the Recovery Program for endangered fish and the Orchard Mesa <br />Check Settlement. The 1999 operations, hydrologic conditions, flow recommendations, <br />reservoir releases, irrigation diversions, and resulting flows in the 15 Mile Reach are summarized <br />below. <br /> <br />Participants in the 1999 coordination efforts included the HUP Managing Entities: <br /> <br />U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) <br />Grand Valley Water Users Association (GVWUA) <br />Orchard Mesa Irrigation District (OMID) <br />Grand Valley Irrigation Company (GVIC) <br />Colorado Division of Water Resources, Division 5 <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) <br />U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) <br /> <br />In addition, the following organizations made releases from their reservoirs to benefit flows in <br />the 15 Mile Reach and participated in the coordination process: <br /> <br />Colorado River Water Conservation District (River District) <br />Denver Water <br />Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (Northern) <br /> <br />1999 Operations Summary <br /> <br />The 1999 snowpack was so low it was feared farmers could face rationing and senior water rights <br />could be called (Denver Post, April 2, 1999). Late spring storms boosted the snowpack, and by <br />late May, water supplies had increased enough that the Coordinated Reservoir Operations group <br />made reservoir releases to augment the spring peak flows on the Colorado River, Hydrologic <br />conditions continued to improve throughout the summer and fall, and some reservoirs were <br />spilling in September, while others had to increase releases to prevent spills. <br /> <br />1999 was the second year releases of surplus Green Mountain HUP water were made pursuant to <br />the Orchard Mesa Check Settlement (see Attachment A). On July 14, the HUP Managing <br />Entities met to review a draft HUP annual operating plan. Green Mountain Reservoir had filled, <br />and 66,000 acre-feet was available to meet the needs of the west slope HUP beneficiaries, At <br /> <br />1999 Late Summer/Fall Operations <br /> <br />HUP Managing Entities & Water Managers <br /> <br />- I - <br />