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fl"""~"" . ,,'j , '-, '''''''''''v~'t SAN JUAN/DOLORES BASIN Jun-O 1 If Basinwide Conditions Assessment The SWSI value' of 2.8 indicates that for May the ,basin water supplies were above normal. The Natural Resources Conservation Service reports that June 1 snowpack is 32% of normal. Flow at the gaging station Animas River near Durango was 3.144 cfs, as compared to the long-term average of 2,198 cfs. Storage in McPhee, Vallecito, and Lemon reservoirs totaled 105% of normal as of the end of May. S,ignificant melting of the snowpack in the San Juan drainage occurred during the month. Stream flows ran.well above average on most drainages. Even the Dolores with predictions of 80% of nor,mal ran 104% during the month of May. Temperatures were very warm, In Durango. both the lows and the highs were 50 higher than normal. The precipitation Was slightly below normal but most of it occurred in the first week. After that only a few days recorded measurable rain. Warm winds dried the ground out quickly, Plants grew quickly and alfalfa matured early. This is one of the earliest years in memory for the first spring hay cutting to have occurred. Most of the rivers peaked at midmonth. The Animas exceeded 5,300 cfs on May 16th but the average that day was computed at 4,760 cfs. using preliminary data. The Dolores River reached a high at around 3,300 ds into McPhee Reservoir, Outlook Reservoirs including Lemon Reservoir captured much of the excess flows. Lemon had nearly filled by the end of the month and' :even McPhee was above normal storage levels. There was still snow in the mountains but it appeared unlikely that earlier flow stages would be exceeded in June. Administrative/Manaqement Concerns Additional precipitati,on was greatly needed but in general the amount available for agriculture appeared adequate up to this point in, time. The ground water carryover provided the early supplies. Public Use Impacts Unfortunately for rafters on the Dolores River, water was not available for spill releases this year but recreation flows on other rivers were readily available for at least a short time this year. SPN~6'$NSWlIHSKRf 5 --.. -.. ..._- - . !!l , ~ ~ 0 >- ., cr o .2 .3 ... .ar92 .ar93 .ar~ .m.Il5 .m.ll6 .m97 JBMI8 ..mQl .bI4Xl .mOl Wffi1/'I5IR N-NN>S Rl\IER r-R ~. FlC7N BY WAlER 'rEAR 1.000,000 900.000 - I -- I.--" / V / I / --- -- ,/ I / /// - I-- -'"" -"""' --- .....- l 900.000 ~ :t ~ u.. w ~ ~ ~ ::< ~ o 700.OC/J 6OO,OC/J 5OO,OC/J 4OO,OC/J 3OO,OC/J 2OO,OC/J 100,OC/J o Od t-bv Dee .Ian F.eb MWl./llri MIy Jl.ne' >>I. ~.. Sept ~~. ; . .' . -+- WET' (HI73) -+-CRf(1917) . -:*-AVG. -*"2Wl REPRESENTATIVE RESER\IOIRS 400.000 350,000 i. !~ . ,. ! ; OJ 300.000 .!! ~ 250,000 IV ,; if 200.000 m t 150.000 ::> 100,000 50.000 o McFhM valleCltn lemon 1305131101 ~ IIA"lJ. 05131 ColUnlS 9 .'i;';~