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n,~]",C'8 ,'J _ ._ ,,/....1 SOUTH PLATTE BASIN Dec~O Basinwide Conditions Ass,ssment The SWSI value :of -1.7 indicates that for November the basin water supplies were below normal. Reservoir storage, the major component iri this basin in computing the SWSI value, was 88% of normal as of the end of November. Storage in the major plains reservoirs: Julesburg, North Sterling, and Prewitt, increased overall by 15,660 acre-feet during November and are at 43% of capacity. Storage in the major upper basin reservoirs: Cheesman, Eleven Mile, Spinney, and Antero, decreased by 3,847 acre-feet overall during November and are at 76% of capacity. The Natural Resources Conservation Service reports that December 1 snowpack is 74% of normal. Flow at the gaging station South Platte River at Kersey was 763 cfs, as compared to the long-term average of 894 cfs. Outlook Reservoir storage continued in November for the plains reservoirs on the South Platte. The call for the whole month was for storage on the mainstem and many tributaries. This is the first storage call on the mainstem of the South Platte in several years and is indicative of the concern of irrigators that they be able to fill their reservoirs. By the end of the month, three of the main irrigation reservoirs - Empire, Julesburg and Jackson were at or near their winter storage level. We expect that Riverside Reservoir will fill during December. North Sterling Reservoir will continue to fill during. the remainder of the year and hopefully will fill to capacity by next spring. Reservoir storage also continued above Kersey on the South Platte. Overall irrigation storage on the river above and below Kersey and tributaries is ahead of the 1994-1995 year, the year after the last dry summer on the South Platte. Municipal storage also continues to be satisfactory. Many of these reservoirs tend to stay somewhat full as the Cities reserve them for severe droughts. Administrative/Management Concerns The Division is gaining optimism that major irrigation reservoirs will fill this winter and spring especially if the weather is not unseasonably cold this winter. Filling reservoirs is very important in having an adequate water supply in the spring. Division 1 continues to be concerned that there be adequate recharge to provide augmentation supplies and maintain flows in the river during next summer. Public Use Impacts None. SCUJ}1RATTEIlASN$Wll HSTtRY 5 --. ._-..-. .........._ ___._ .___...____..___..__ . ~ : w ::> , ~ ~o ~ . ~ - . ,"i Ii .1 o -2 .3 ... ------~--Jo><!) . MlNIH/\'6IIIl. i -j SOUTH R.A7TE RIVER NR ~. FI..ON BY WATER 'IEAA 450,000 .._.__..u_.... ... 400,000 ,.' Ql ~ 300.000 ~ :i :JOO,OOO ~ 9 250,000 u. ~ 200,000 ;:: ~ 150,000 ~ B 100.000 50,000 o Oct /Ibv Dee .Ian Fell Mwm ...... VvET (1ll83) , -+-DRl'(1964) _AVG, *2OOl REPRESENTATIVE RllSERVOlRS 300.000 250.000 4i ~200.000 t .. oj S '50.000 Ui J '00.000 50.000 Dillon HoIseloo1l1 EI_ MIle ~n Jadcson eeirLake .Avg.l1~ Ccotenta .1I111301OOConIenIs 3 ;t.~