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ARKANSAS BASIN <br />Basinwide Conditions Assessment <br />The SWSI value for the month was 1.4. Flow at the <br />gaging station Arkansas River near Portland was 2075 cfs, <br />as compared to the long-term average of 1533 cfs. Storage <br />in Turquoise, Twin Lakes, Pueblo, and John Martin <br />reservoirs totaled 52% of normal as of the end of July. <br />Outlook <br />The Arkansas River call began the month set at the <br />Colorado Canal 6/9/1890 call and ended the month set at <br />the Fort Lyon #2 call (31111887). There were about 4 days of <br />Amity #1 call (212111887) and a short period of higher flows <br />with a split call and more junior calls below John Martin <br />Reservoir. Overall irrigation supplies have been quite good <br />in 2008 and that trend continued in July, but all of the supply <br />has essentially been due to snowmelt runoff and particularly <br />from upper basin headwaters area snowmelt runoff. <br />Precipitation year-to-date for many parts of the Arkansas <br />River Basin were poorer than even 2002, but the strong <br />mainstem river conditions have provided good supplies <br />through July. Non-irrigated pasture land and dryland areas <br />have been particularly had hit by the lack of rain with many <br />Arkansas River Basin counties qualifying for Federal Disaster <br />designation. <br />Kansas called for a release of their stored water in <br />John Martin Reservoir in late June and continued that <br />delivery to ditches in western Kansas through July 23, 2008. <br />The delivery included a release of 14,125 acre-feet of <br />Section II water along with 272 acre-feet of transit loss water. <br />The transit loss release was limited under an agreement <br />between the two States signed in the fall of 2006, but the <br />delivery experienced no additional transit loss to be made up <br />from future inflows to storage in John Martin Reservoir. The <br />release also included 14,555 acre-feet of Offset Account <br />water that resulted in a net stateline delivery credit of <br />approximately 11,000 acre-feet for the benefit of Colorado <br />well owners in the Lower Arkansas Water Management <br />Association (LAWMA) plan. <br />Administrative/Management Concerns <br />An Advisory Committee to the State Engineer on the <br />Irrigation Consumption Rules ~roposed for the Arkansas <br />River Basin met twice in July (8t and 30t") to help develop a <br />workable set of rules to ensure that developments within <br />surface irrigation systems in Colorado do not cause a <br />problem with compliance with the Arkansas River Compact. <br />The Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet approximately <br />monthly through the end of 2008 to assist in getting a set of <br />Rules promulgated by early 2009. <br />Aug-08 <br />4 <br />