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CPNRD and NGPC instream flow requirements were discussed. Current instream flow <br />requirements are 1,500 cfs at Overton and Grand Island gages until May 3 of which <br />neither are being met right now. On May 4, the instream flow requirement at Overton <br />drops to 500 cfs and Grand Island to 1,350 cfs. On May 11, Grand Island also drops to <br />500 cfs. The 500 cfs requirement at Duncan is currently being met. <br />Vassos informed the group that the tkree big irrigation districts on the North Platte are in <br />conservation mode so would not start irrigating until June instead of May. As a result, <br />return flows to the river from those projects will happen much later than usual. <br />Tullis reported that conditions in the North Platte basin are as bad as anyone has seen. It <br />appears the snow pack "peak" was about three weeks early. The North Platte at Sinclair <br />was 1,000 cfs last week but has been dropping ever since. Snow pack return flows have <br />been very slow. Provisions for dealing with allocations under the new North Platte <br />Decree will be tested in the first year of its existence. Based on projected supplies, an <br />automatic call for administration was made on February 15; therefore, decree provisions <br />are already being enforced. Tullis mentioned the peak on the lower system may have <br />already occurred too although some think there may still be a chance for additional <br />snowpack. He said snowpack conditions were similar in 1977 and 1989 but decent rains <br />occurred during those years. How the snow melts will be critical. <br />Myler provided a handout summarizing the BOR reservoir status and North Platte water <br />supply forecast. He used 1992, as an example of a dry year, for comparison purposes. <br />The April 1 forecast of the April-July most probable runoff for the North Platte River <br />Basin has declined by about 25 percent compared to the March 1 forecast (370,000 acre- <br />feet and 495,000 acre-feet, respectively). No releases from Guernsey Reservoir in <br />"excess" of the demands below Guernsey are identified in the BOR's monthly operating <br />plans, not even under the probable maximum conditions. He reported that if the <br />Pathfinder modification existed, the EA would have accrued about 10 kaf. He said the <br />North Platte Decree Committee had met for the first time on April 12t''. Under the <br />modified decree, an allocation year is triggered when the carry-over + projected inflows <br />are less than 1.1 maf. During the discussion, it was noted that, if it doesn't rain, some <br />irrigators may need to irrigate in May just to get their crops to germinate, then turn the <br />canals back off for awhile. Turning irrigation deliveries on and off will not help the <br />efforts to conserve water. Also, lack of return flows from the canal systems will not help <br />the inflows into Lake McConaughy during the early summer. <br />Brown provided a handout with select water information and flow conditions for the <br />South Platte River. The only positive thing he said he could convey is that most <br />reservoirs on the South Platte are currently full. Other than that, conditions in the South <br />Platte are as dry as in the rest of the Platte River basin. He reported that the governor of <br />Colorado has declared a moderate drought for the state but has not been willing to declare <br />a severe drought in hopes that some precipitation will come in July. Brown illustrated <br />that a comparable snowpack was experienced in 1977 and 1981 (i.e., around 50% or less <br />of average). However, above average hydrologic conditions were experienced prior to <br />2