BOARD0215

• Board Meeting Date: 5/20/2002
• Description: OWCDP Section - Colorado Drought & Water Supply Assessment
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD

f Department of Natural Resources
Bill Owens, Governor
~reg WaIcher, DNR Executive Director
~od Kuharich, CWCB Director

April 2002

White, Yampa and North Platte River Basins Drought Impact Fact Sheet
Water Division 6

Reservoir Storage
Walden Reservoir - supplemental irrigation use -
will not fill this spring; will likely be drained to
dead storage pool this summer.
Stillwater Reservoir - supplemental irrigation use
- will not fill this spring; will likely be drained to
very low level. Yamcolo Reservoir -
supplemental irrigation use - will not fill this
spring, will likely be drained to very low level.

Use of Storage

It is anticipated that these reservoirs will begin
releasing water earlier then normal unless
significant rainfall develops in the basins. These
reservoirs are anticipated to be nearly empty at
.. the end of the summer, except for minimum
fishery pools and/or dead storage pools.

Streamflow

Current stream flow conditions as of April 19 for selected gaging stations:
North Platte near Northgate, 115 cfs, average for this date is 607 cfs; Yampa River near Maybell, 1830 cfs,
average for this date is 2630 cfs; Little Snake near Slater CO, 197 cfs, average for this date is 244 cfs;
White River above Coal Creek near Meeker, 547 cfs, average for this date is 491 cfs.

Water Administration

Only one call in on the Division. Walden Reservoir, on the Illinois River, is calling for their storage right.
Irrigation will be starting next week on the Illinois and Michigan Rivers and a call for direct flow rights is
anticipated as soon as that happens. In the other areas in the Division that historically see administration,
calls are expected to occur earlier then normal. Compared to average runoff conditions, calls will occur
earlier and will probably extend for most, if not all, of the irrigation season.

Comparison to Prior Years

The last time conditions were this bad appears to be 1977. While the snowpack in the Division is still
running ahead of that for 1977, conditions are shaping up to make this possibly one of the worst years in
history. Water supplies are adequate for most of the larger cities and towns in the Division. Some smaller
communities that have minimal storage available may see some shortages. Most irrigation water users in
the Division have little or no access to storage water to supplement their direct flow rights.

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For more information about this or other water resource topics, please contact the CWCB at:
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721, Denver, CO 80203
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone] Internet: www.cwcb.state.co.us