Summary of Select Water Storage and Flow Conditions (3)

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-2- Reservoir Storage A summary of the status of select reservoir storage and reservoir capacity is provided in Figure 1. The storage contents of these major South Platte reservoirs reflect the extreme drought conditions which Colorado faced during the last water year. Figure 3 shows reservoir storage for Colorado with the South Platte basin estimated to be well below normal storage patterns at 47 percent of average Lower basin reservoirs were empty or near empty by August and upper basin reservoirs were severely taxed. We anticipate that diversions to storage will be a priority this fall and winter and will continue as long as weather conditions allow. Snow Pack State wide snow pack for Colorado was last reported for June 2002 and reporting will begin again next month. Figures 4 and 5 show snowpack for June 2002. The reader can see that Colorado snowpack conditions lead to one of the most sever drought years in recent recorded history. Snowpact was a meager 2 percent of average. In the South Platte (Figure 5) the snowpack went from a disma154 percent of average on April to 2 percent of average in June. This rapid reduction in snow pack is reflected in the lack of any runoff peak (Figures 2). The Surface Water Supply Index (SWSI) is an indicator of mountain-based water supply conditions developed by the Natural Resource Conservation Office and the Colorado State Engineers Office. The SWSI is based on snow pack, reservoir storage, and precipitation for November through April. During the winter, snow pack is given the most emphasis, except on the South Platte where reservoir storage is given the most weight. During the summer actual stream flow conditions begins to replace snow pack. The SWSI for Colorado as of September 2002 is shown in Figure 6. The SWSI for the South Platte basin is -3.2 indicating severe drought. III. SUMMARY As of September 2002 we are expecting the impacts of the drought to continue and well below average conditions for the South Platte basin. Three consecutive years of below average precipitation and lower reservoir conditions suggest that next year will be a below average flow year. Long-term weather reports preliminarily indicate an average to below average snowpack. Flood Protection • Water Project Planning and Financing • Stream and Lake Protection Water Supply Protection 9 Conservarion Planning