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<br />Division of Water Resources - Don West
<br />
<br />The June Water Supply Conditions Update Report can be found at http://water.state.co.us/pubs/swsi.asp but a brief
<br />synopsis is as follows, SWSI's lowest values form a diagonal band from northwest to southeast and include
<br />Yampa/White, Colorado and Arkansas Basins for the lowest values in stream flows
<br />
<br />South Platte Basin - is running on average, reservoirs were about normal, in the South Platte Basin, reservoir storage
<br />is the highest component of this SWSI calculation, At the Kersey gage it was better than 2002 but still well below
<br />average, For example it is running at 400 CFS this year and 2400 CFS is the long term average, Don't expect
<br />additional water into storage and this will be bad for agricultural users, Many cities have implemented their drought
<br />plans some time ago, The end of summer will likely be dry this year. Empire and Jackson reservoirs will drop
<br />because of agricultural demand,
<br />
<br />Arkansas Basin - Stream flow is heavily weighted, river was on par with 2002, In April and May we broke away a bit,
<br />trans mountain water are well below normal, the Fry-Ark allocated 10,000 AF of water this year and a typical year is
<br />50-60,000 AF, We will have administration of rules related to the compacts, wells will be regulated, when we deal
<br />with the Arkansas, Mr Jack Byers, Assistant State Engineer, added to this report: John Martin Reservoir is down
<br />because of releases and agricultural reservoirs operating as they are supposed to, (empty and the end of summer),
<br />There was discussion about the new Tamarisk eradication program outside of Pueblo, It is designed to reduce losses
<br />along the Arkansas by removing, cutting and burning Tamarisk that line the banks, The goal is to reduce losses and
<br />improve the water management scheme, The John Martin Reservoir releases are for compact obligations,
<br />
<br />Rio Grande Basin - stream flows are up and above the average but reservoir storage is a bit below average, The Rio
<br />Grande at Del Norte gage is at average, The Alamosa office says streams have peeked, May was dry, and they have
<br />made a storage release early to offset dry conditions,
<br />
<br />Gunnison Basin - Is right at average, May was bit cooler and snow was melting out slower and there is more around
<br />this month, The Division office in Grand Mesa said reservoirs can fill this year. Blue Mesa will reach 80 to 85% of
<br />full. There is a call on the Uncompaghre River. Reservoir recreation use will good, but stream flows for rafting will
<br />be lower than desirable, Local fire managers are worried about fire danger in the Colorado River basin,
<br />
<br />Yampa/White Basin - this computed value has no reservoir storage and stream flow factor is quite low, many streams
<br />and rivers went under administration at the end of May, Irrigation reservoirs have begun releasing to users,
<br />
<br />San Juan/Dolores - Showed a River flow graph of the Animas River near Durango, May loth had most of the gaging
<br />stations peaking in this basin, Lemon reservoir will now fill and so will Vallecito and Jackson Gulch Reservoirs,
<br />
<br />US Geological Survey - John Gordon
<br />The USGS Drought website can be found at http://waterdata,usgs,gov/co/nwis/rt
<br />The USGS collaborates with the DWR
<br />and CWCB for stream gages, The
<br />drought website shows locations of real
<br />time stream gages with usually 30-years
<br />of data for each gage, The graphs are
<br />updated every four hours,
<br />In 2002, the USGS added the Drought
<br />Watch Page, This site provides real time
<br />data on the drought. The drought watch
<br />site shuts down in the winter because of
<br />ice effects on the stream gages, If you go
<br />to the site and click on triangles it will
<br />pull up additional graphs, There have
<br />been wild fluctuations in temperature so
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<br />
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<br />Expla.na.tion
<br />
<br />Perwnti Ie ca tggories
<br />
<br />n 40
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<br />_ N-ew record high flO'iN
<br />_ >90 Percentile
<br />. 76-00 Percentile
<br />_ 25-75 Percentile
<br />_ 10-24 Percentile
<br />_ -=:10 Perwntile
<br />_ N.g.w record ION fbw
<br />
<br />"
<br />
<br />Past Twelve Months
<br />
<br />CompgriSCIn of R~nt Dgily-A\IQ~.g. StrmlmflC1'lNS to Historical StrQamflClW'i: for Long- T"um
<br />Str9a.mga.g-es Opei.:3.too by th-e U.S. Geobg ca.1 Su rv9Y in Colol2do
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