SWSIReportJune2005

• Title: Colorado Water Supply Conditions Update
• Date: 6/8/2005
• Description: Presentation
• Basin: Statewide
• Drought Mitigation - Doc Type: Presentation

ARKANSAS BASIN

Basinwide Conditions Assessment
The SWSI value of -1,6 indicates that for May the
basin water supplies were slightly below normal. The Natural
Resources Conservation Service reports that June 1
snowpack was 57% of normal. Flow at the gaging station
Arkansas River near Portland was 929 cfs, as compared to
the long-term average of 1,154 cfs, Storage in Turquoise,
Twin Lakes, Pueblo, and John Martin reservoirs totaled 77%
of normal as of the end of May,
Stream fiows in May appear to indicate the peak
runoff has occurred at most gaging locations in the Arkansas
Basin, The Arkansas river call moved towards a much more
junior call with many mainstem ditches diverting junior rights
that have seen few days of in-priority diversion in the past
three years. The river call began at the Fort Lyon #2 call on
May 1 ,t (3/1/1887) and ended with the call set at the Great
Plains storage right (8/1/1896) with the Amity directing the
Great Plains right to be stored in John Martin Reservoir. A
brief conservation storage event in John Martin Reservoir
also occurred at the end of May due to particularly high fiows
on the Purgatoire River.

Administrative/Manaqement Concerns
Some junior ditches that have not been able to divert
for several years enjoyed much better diversions in May, but
suffered some effects from ditch deterioration throughout the
prolonged drought. Removal of tumbleweeds and growth
from ditches was a problem that plagued many of the
Arkansas ditches,
Plans approved for well pumping in the Arkansas
Basin were approved at pumping levels that were up
significantly from the past few years, Augmentation supplies
appear to be rebounding slightly,
Kansas called for release of water from the Offset
Account in John Martin Reservoir (special account used to
provide well augmentation water for replacing stateline
depletions to usable flow) and enjoyed a sustained run at
levels between 180 and 200 cfs released from John Martin
Reservoir for most of May,

Jun-05

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