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,,.-- CURRENT WATER YEAR <br />Water Administration <br />T he overall water supply situation going <br />into 1999 was excellent. Most reservoirs <br />were at or near winter fill. There had been <br />sighificant water diverted for recharge the <br />previous two or three years because of the wet <br />conditions and retums from this recharge also <br />were expected to help the water supply <br />situation in 1999. Snowpack during the <br />beginning of the year was slight(y less than <br />average. This did not cause alarrn as <br />precipitation during the beginning of the year is <br />not usually a significant percentage af the <br />overall snowpack. The conditions tended to be <br />drier in the southem mountains than in the <br />northem mountains. <br />Water users and administrators did begin to be <br />concemed about supplies because of the lack <br />of precipitation in the basin during March, a <br />month where there is usually significant <br />precipitation. The overall precipitation during <br />March was less than one-half of normal. <br />These concems were somewhat alleviated <br />because reservoir storage was still high due to <br />favorable conditions the previous ypar. In <br />response to the dry conditions, a junior call was <br />placed in March in District '! to help assure the <br />reservoirs on the plains would fill. This was a <br />dramatic departure from the previous years <br />where there was no concem about fi((ing the <br />reseevoirs even before runoff began. <br />Going into the spring, it (ooked like it was going <br />to be a dry year. As an example of this <br />expectation, the Northem Colorada Water <br />Conservancy Distriet, which provides west <br />slope water as a supplemerrtai supply to much <br />of the South Platte basin through the Colorado <br />Big Thompson Project, set a quota of 80% for <br />their project in early April. This quota is set for <br />fairly dry years. <br />April tumed out to be a very transitional month <br />for the water supply outlook in the South Platte <br />basin. The first half of April continued very dry <br />with snowpack falling well below average <br />throughout the Division. This low :snowpack <br />and the dry conditions created concem that this <br />would be a below average water year and that <br />users who normally have an adequate suppiy <br />wou(d be short during a portion of the year. <br />Beginning the last week of April, there were <br />several major storms that provided significant <br />amounts of rainfall on the plains and snowfall in <br />the mountains. The precipitation oontinued for <br />severai days leaving above average snowpack <br />levels throughout the basin and raisiRg the <br />stream flow level in the tower South Platte <br />downstream of its confluence with the Big <br />Thompson to flood stage. Precipitation in April <br />averaged over 5 inches for stations on the <br />plains in northeast Colorado compared to an <br />average of approximately 1.5 inches of <br />precipitation. The graph below shows the <br />overall precipitation at 5 stations in <br />Northeastem Colorado. <br />Because of 1he precipitation, the South Platte <br />crested at over 22,500 cfs at the Kersey gage, <br />above flood (evel. In addition, flooding also <br />occurred along parts of the Poudre River and <br />Big Thompson. The flooding damaged parts of