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Forecasted unregulated inflows for October, November and December decreased this month from 150,000 acre-feet (93% of normal) to 105,000 acre-feet (67% of normal). Based on the new forecast, the reservoir elevation will likely decrease over the next 5 months to about 6022.5 feet above sea level. Beginning in March the reservoir elevation will likely begin to rise as reservoir inflows increase next spring. Releases are scheduled to remain at an average of 1400 cfs per day throughout the winter months. The Colorado River Forecast Center has provided an outlook forecast for water year 2006 that is 78% of normal. This outlook forecast is the basis for the current 24 month study operation at Flaming Gorge beyond the current 3 month forecast.. A special meeting ofthe "Flaming Gorge Working Group" is to be scheduled for early November, 2005. The date ofthis meeting has yet to be determined but will be posted at (http://www.usbr.gov/uc/water/crsp/wglfglfgcurmt.html) as soon as it becomes available or by calling Ed Vidmar at 801-379-1182. This meeting is being scheduled to discuss winter operations as fluctuating generation patterns will likely be occurring this winter. The extent of these fluctuating patterns has yet to be decided by Reclamation. The Working Group is a forum for information exchange between Reclamation and all other parties associated with the operation of Flaming Gorge Reservoir. The public is encouraged to attend and express their concerns and interests with regard to the operation of Flaming Gorge Reservoir. For more information about the Working Group please contact Ed Vidmar at 801-379-1182. ASPINALL - September unregulated inflow into Blue Mesa Reservoir was 25,000 acre-feet or 69 percent of average. Precipitation during September was recorded at 145 percent of average. The current inflow rate into Blue Mesa Reservoir is about 700 cfs and reservoir releases are averaging about 1,200 cfs. Blue Mesa's present elevation is 7490.34 feet, which corresponds to a storage content of about 584,000 acre-feet. The unregulated reservoir inflow into Blue Mesa Reservoir during water year 2005 was 812,000 acre-feet, or about 81 percent of average. Currently, releases from Crystal are set at 1,100 cfs. The Gunnison Diversion Tunnel is taking about 650 cfs, which leaves about 450 cfs in the Gunnison River below the diversion tunnel. Weare planning to bring the river flows down to about 400 cfs during the Brown Trout spawn, which will be from mid October through mid November. After the spawn, we may allow the river to increase slightly back to 450 cfs if conditions are favorable. The past two months have seen a little more rain than on average. However, we may reduce this rate even further if the hydrologic conditions turn back to dry. Conservation has been and continues to be the operational mode for keeping reservoir storage up until next spring runoff. The last meeting ofthe "Aspinall Unit Working Group" was held on Thursday, August 25, 2005 at 1 :00 PM at the National Park Service Elk Creek Visitor Center at Blue Mesa Reservoir. At this meeting, review of last spring and summer reservoir operations, and plans for this autumn 2005 operations were discussed. These meetings are open forum discussions on the Aspinall Unit reservoir operations with many interested groups participating. Anyone needing further information about these meetings should contact Dan Crabtree in the Grand Junction Area Office at (970) 248- 0652.