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<br />COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />Bill Owens, Governor <br />Greg Walcher, DNR Executive Director <br />Rod Kuharich, CWCB Director <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />April 2002 <br /> <br />Rio Grande Basin Drought Impact Fact Sheet <br />Water Division 3 <br /> <br />Reservoir Storage <br /> <br />Reservoir storage ranges from a high of 78 percent to a <br />low of 23 percent of normal. The reservoirs are <br />expected to be drawn down to near minimum pool at <br />yearend. All of the reservoirs in the Rio Grande are for <br />irrigation purposes and management may vary <br />depending on the water users' use plans. <br /> <br />Use of Storage <br /> <br />Abnormally warm and dry weather has contributed to <br />early melting of what little snowpack there is in the Rio <br />Grande. However, river flows on the Rio Grande have <br />barely exceeded 500 cfs to date. Based on 1977 data we <br />expect the Rio Grande river to peak around 1200 cfs. A <br />normal peak would be around 5300 cfs. <br /> <br />Water Administration <br /> <br />Warm weather has caused early "runoff'. Based on 1977 data we expect the Rio Grande river to peak early and <br />at about 1200 cfs and many of the "later" water rights to not come in at all. Currently very senior priorities are <br />diverting. Normally much more junior water rights would be diverting. The Rio Grande Compact should not <br />impact Colorado water users who will be more impacted by intra-state water administration. <br /> <br />Comparison to Prior Years <br /> <br />The low year comparable to this year is 1977. Abnormally warm and dry weather has contributed to early <br />melting of what little snowpack there is in the Rio Grande Basin. Cumulative precipitation on the valley floor <br />since September 2001 is 2.05 inches below normal, a significant amount of the average annual 7.5 inches <br />normally received. The Upper Rio Grande basin snowpack is essentially gone. As of April 22, 2002 the Upper <br />Rio Grande Basin was at 10 percent of normal. <br /> <br /> <br />For more information about this or other water resource topics, please contact the CWCB at: .. <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 721, Denver, CO, 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 866-3441 Fax: (303) 866-4474 <br />Internet: www.cwcb.state.co.us <br />