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<br />.. <br /> <br />remained steady at about 800 cfs and the total volume released during December was 50,100 acre- <br />feet. <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />During the month of January, beginning January 8th, releases from Flaming Gorge Dam could have <br />hour-to-hour fluctuations. Because of the experimental flow tests being conducted at Glen Canyon <br />Dam, the generation capability of Glen Canyon Dam has been reduced such that a generation <br />shortage exists during the morning hours. Western Area Power Administration (Western) requested <br />that additional generation be made available at Flaming Gorge Dam to help meet the power demands <br />of their customers during these morning hours. Reclamation has agreed to provide 12,000 acre-feet <br />of additional releases during the month of January for this purpose. The fluctuation pattern is <br />restricted to a single peak each day with a maximum generation rate of 72 MW (-2400 cfs). The <br />minimum instantaneous release rate is restricted to 800 cfs and the ramping rate is restricted to 25 <br />MWlhour (-800 cfslhour). The peak will likely occur during the late morning hours. These hourly <br />fluctuations do fall within the limitations described in the Reasonable and Prudent Alternative of the <br />1992 Biological Opinion on the Operation of Flaming Gorge Dam. Reclamation anticipates that <br />Western will only schedule this additional generation when it cannot be purchased on the open <br />market or when extremely adverse market conditions exist. <br /> <br />The first 2003 Water Supply Forecast for Flaming Gorge was issued on January 6th, 2003. The <br />April through July unregulated inflow forecast for Flaming Gorge is currently 680,000 acre-feet <br />(57% of normal) while the current snowpack conditions in the Upper Green River Basin are 66% of <br />normal. This is significantly lower than the April through July unregulated inflow volume <br />Reclamation was estimating in December's 24-Month Study which was 1,034,000 acre-feet (86% of <br />normal). <br /> <br />The next "Flaming Gorge Working Group" meeting is to be held on January 15th, 2003 in Vernal, <br />Utah at 10:00 a.m. at the Western Park Convention Center. Working Group meetings are scheduled <br />in January, April and September each year to discuss past, present and future operations at Flaming <br />Gorge Dam. Those who are interested in the operation of Flaming Gorge and those who would like <br />to voice their concerns are encouraged to attend these meetings. For more information about the <br />Working Group please contact Ed Vidmar at 801-379-1182. <br /> <br />ASPINALL - December unregulated inflow into Blue Mesa Reservoir was 17,000 acre-feet or 67 <br />percent of average. Hydrologic conditions remain dry with precipitation during the month of <br />December recorded at only 55 percent of normal. On January 6, 2003 the basin snowpack was <br />averaging 94 percent. The average stream flow is still much below normal and will probably stay <br />that way into next spring's runoff. It will take a winter of much above average snowfall to produce <br />an average runoff since the soil moisture profiles are so depleted. The current inflow rate into Blue <br />Mesa Reservoir is about 230 cfs while reservoir releases are averaging about 300 cfs. Blue Mesa's <br />present elevation is 7444.8 feet, which corresponds to a storage content of about 284,000 acre-feet. <br />Generally, reservoir storage is making slight daily gains of about 200 acre-feet per day. <br /> <br />On January 6, 2003, the National Weather Service's River Forecast Center issued an inflow forecast <br />for Blue Mesa Reservoir for the April through July runoff period. The forecast is projecting a <br />volume runoff into the reservoir of 575,000 acre-feet. This represents a 80 percent of average <br />runoff for this time period. <br />