Summary Report ‎(Working Draft)‎ Modeling of Reservoir Management Strategies for Lakes Powell and Mead December 2005

• Description: Summary Report ‎(Working Draft)‎ Modeling of Reservoir Management Strategies for Lakes Powell and Mead December 2005
• State: CO
• Title: Summary Report ‎(Working Draft)‎ Modeling of Reservoir Management Strategies for Lakes Powell and Mead December 2005
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Meeting

Modeling Results for
Colorado River Basin States' Modeling of
Colorado River and Reservoir Management Strategies
1.0 Introduction
As a result of the severe five -year drought observed in the Colorado River Basin
from 2000 through 2004, the Secretary of the Interior asked the Basin States to
formulate and recommend a consensus plan to proactively deal with the impacts
of the drought and offered the technical assistance of Reclamation to aid in the
development of recommended actions. In the summer of 2004, the States formed
a Technical Modeling Committee comprised of representatives from each state to
examine potential operational strategies for Lakes Powell and Mead that might
offer some benefits to offset the impacts of low reservoir conditions. The
Technical Committee defined the strategies and Reclamation provided the
modeling and analysis to facilitate the evaluation of those strategies. The stated
purpose of the studies was two -fold:
1) To evaluate the response of the system to a range of possible future
inflows under a range of potential drought management options.
2) To determine the "side- boards" with respect to:
• the onset of possible shortages
• the magnitude of possible shortages
In May of 2005, the Secretary announced her intention to develop operational
guidelines for coordinated management of Lakes Powell and Mead under low
reservoir conditions (including Lower Basin shortage guidelines), adding
additional impetus to the Committee's work.
Although a large number of strategies were studied over the past eighteen months
(over 50 separate modeling scenarios), this report documents the strategies that
the Committee deemed most promising.
This report is organized in the following sections.
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Description of Specific Strategies
3.0 Modeling Results
4.0 Sensitivity Analysis of Step Shortage and Hybrid Alternatives
Appendix A — Terminology
Appendix B — General Modeling Assumptions
Appendix C — Lake Powel Normal Operations
Appendix D — Lake Mead Normal Operations