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months projected elevation for April 1st, 2005. At this time no changes have been made to the projected releases but this may be considered if conditions continue to become wetter in the coming months. Releases are currently 800 cfs and are projected to remain at this level until May of2005. The next "Flaming Gorge Working Group" meeting is to be held on April 21st, 2005 in Vernal, Utah at 10:00 a.m.. The location will be at the Western Park Convention Center. 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 - October unregulated inflow into Blue Mesa Reservoir was 29,000 acre-feet or 79 percent of average. Hydrologic conditions remain dry with drought still the controlling factor for water management throughout the region; however, the last two months were much above average precipitation. September recorded precipitation was 165 percent of average, while October's precipitation was 120 percent of average. Average stream flow is still much below normal and will most likely stay that way until next spring's runoff. The current inflow rate into Blue Mesa Reservoir is about 350 cfs and reservoir releases are averaging about 300 cfs. Blue Mesa's present elevation is 7476.69 feet, which corresponds to a storage content of about 482,000 acre-feet. On November 1, 2004, the National Weather Service's River Forecast Center issued the forecasted inflow over the next 3 months for continued below normal conditions. The unregulated inflow forecast for November, December and January is 63,000 acre-feet which is 76% of normal for these months. Based on this forecast, Blue Mesa Reservoir elevation is estimated to increase 1.6 feet to elevation 7478.3 feet or about 11,500 acre-feet by the end of January 2005. Releases from Crystal are currently set at 350 cfs. The Gunnison Diversion Tunnel has been shut down for the winter season with the exception of some small 1 00 cfs diversions taken bi-weekly for municipal water needs in Montrose, Colorado. Due to the severity of the continuing drought in the Gunnison River Basin, river flows through the Black Canyon ofthe Gunnison have been set close to the minimum flow rate. Current flows in the river are now 350 cfs. This flow rate will most likely be kept at this level for much of this fall and winter months. The next meeting ofthe "Aspinall Unit Working Group" will be held on Thursday, January 20,2005 at 1 :00 PM at the Pavilion Center in Montrose, Colorado, review of last summer and fall reservoir operations, and plans for this winter and next spring 2005 operations will be 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. NA VAJO - Reclamation decreased the release from Navajo Reservoir from 350 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 250 cfs, at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, November 1, 2004. This release will remain at 250 cfs throughout the winter, or until further notice. Releases are made for the authorized purposes of the Navajo Unit, and to attempt to maintain a target base flow through the endangered fish critical habitat reach ofthe San Juan River (Farmington to Lake Powell). Based upon current hydrological conditions and historical hydrologic data, the target base flow should remain above 500 cfs through the critical habitat area. The target base flow is calculated as the weekly average of gaged flows throughout the critical habitat area, therefore daily flows of less