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VIII. Issues to Address • Runoff and Flow Prediction Imvrovements At present there are 23 SNOTEL sites located in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The sites range in elevation from 8,700 feet above MSL to 11,400 feet above MSL. These sites provide a fairly good indication of what the snow pack is. However, additional information on how melting of the snow pack translates into stream flows would be helpful. Two rough rules of thumb have emerged: (1) when the snow water equivalent peaks, streamflow at Palisade will peak approximately one month later; (2) when the average daily temperature at Glenwood Springs ' exceeds 60°F for an extended period, a peak can be expected in 3 - 4 days. ' The NWS continued Extended Streamflow Prediction (ESP) forecasting for the Cameo Gage during 1999. This added capability should help coordinated reservoir operations during the 1999 runoff. Additional improvements to the extended forecast outlook would be quite helpful. ' • Improved communications among all reservoir operators and water administration officials would help. As a result, the Division 5 Engineer will be implementing the water ' administration tool as part of CRDSS in 2000. This tool will help distribute real time information concerning stream flows and reservoir operations to everyone as soon as it becomes available. • Coordination with the Colorado Flood Task Force The Colorado Flood Task Force continually evaluates the flood potential around the state during the runoff season. The Task Force employees a private consultant (Henz-Kelly) to provide extended weather outlooks and also identify areas of potential flood threats. Alternatively, information on reservoir operations may be useful to the Task Force. The exchange of information between the coordinated reservoir operations group and the Flood Task Force should be encouraged. In addition, the documentation of any flooding that may occur is of interest to both groups and coordination of this effort could help stretch limited financial resources farther. • Flood Warnings and "Pinch Points" on the River Affecting Coordinated Reservoir Operations Several stream gages on the river have elevation levels identified on them at which flood ' warnings are issued. However, the State of Colorado and NWS do not always agree on what that elevation should be. The Coordinated Reservoir Operations Group would like to see one set of flood elevation levels identified for each stream gage upon which both the State of Colorado and ' NWS agree. No flooding problems occurred as a result of CROS operations in 1999. ' • Aerial Monitoring The USFWS obtained aerial photography of the critical habitat during 1997.. However, the photography was for periods of time when the Coordinated Reservoir Operations Study was not ' being implemented Photography taken during Coordinated Reservoir Operations and during the 1 13