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<br />The Colorado River Basin is now in its 5th year of drought. Inflow volumes have been below <br />average for 4 consecutive years. Unregulated inflow in water year 2003 was only 53 percent of <br />average. Unregulated inflow in 2000,2001 and 2002 was 62,59, and 25 percent of average, <br />respectively. Inflow in 2002 was the lowest ever observed since the completion of Glen Canyon <br />Dam in 1963. <br /> <br />The trend oflow inflow continues. Unregulated inflow November, December, and January was only <br />64, 67 and 74 percent of average, respectively. On February 2, 2004 observed inflow to Lake Powell <br />was 5,500 cfs, about 60 percent of what is usually seen in early February. <br /> <br />Low inflows have reduced water storage in Lake Powell. On December 5,2003, the elevation of <br />Lake Powell dropped below 3600 feet. The last time the water surface elevation was this low was in <br />1973. The current elevation (as of February 3, 2004) of Lake Powell is 3,591 feet (109 feet from full <br />pool). Current storage is 11.0 million acre-feet (45 percent of capacity). The good news is that even <br />after 4 years of severe drought, Lake Powell is still storing a large volume of water. <br />