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<br />" <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />North Platte River Basin Snowmelt Rnnoff Forecast: The Wyoming Area Office of the <br />Bureau of Reclamation in Mills, Wyoming, has prepared snowmelt runoff forecasts for the North <br />Platte River Basin, according to John H. Lawson, Wyoming Area Manager. The May 1 forecast <br />of the spring snowmelt runoff is below normal for the North Platte River Basin. <br />Total expected April through July runoff in the North Platte Basin above Glendo Dam is <br />expected to be 505,000 acre feet (AF) or 56% of the 30 year average of 897,000 AF. <br />Approximately 403,000 AF (57% of average) of the runoff is expected to enter Seminoe <br />Reservoir (of which 103,000 AF was received in April), with an additional 63,000 AF (97% of <br />average) being provided to Pathfmder Reservoir from the Sweetwater River (of which 13,000 AF <br />was received in April), and the balance of39,000 AF (31 % of average) coming from the basin <br />between Pathfinder Reservoir and Glendo Reservoir (of which 9,000 AF was received in April). <br />The water in storage for delivery .to North Platte Project contractors as of April 30th is 434,511 <br />AF or 59% of average. The Bureau of Reclamation is advising North Platte Project water users <br />that an allocation of the water supply is expected. With reservoir storage well below average and <br />below average inflow forecasted for April through July of this year, water users will need to take <br />measures to conserve the available water supply. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Denver Water Use Falls Significantly: Water use is plummeting at Colorado's largest <br />municipal utility as customers cling to their drought-savvy ways. This year, Denver Water is <br />forecasting a 24 percent drop in overall water use, more than double its original projection, <br />which foresaw an 11 percent drop. <br /> <br />Changes in lawn-watering habits are particularly dramatic, with the utility forecasting outdoor <br />summer use shrinking by an unprecedented 40 percent this year. According to its pre-drought <br />analysis, the utility should have sold about 92.8 billion gallons of water this year. New <br />projections show the utility's 1.2 million metro-area customers are likely to use just 70.5 billion <br />gallons, l~gely because of lessons learned _from the drought. <br /> <br />The phenomenon, known as a drought shadow, is expected to continue through the next nine <br />years. By 2014, even with a projected 1 percent annual growth in its customer base, Denver <br />Water expects to sell 87.7 billion gallons of water, less than it normally would have sold in 2005. <br />The drop in sales likely means major changes for Denver Water, board members said, as the <br />utility struggles to adjust to a tighter budget and craft future water supply plans. This year's <br />budget, for instance, already has been squeezed, with new water revenues projected at $144 <br />million, down from the $167 million originally forecast_ <br /> <br />But during a briefing on April 20, the agency said it would absorb the $23 million loss by using <br />its cash reserves rather than imposing a midyear rate hike, an option discussed last month. It will <br />also cut $14 million from its capital budget and reduce operating and maintenance expenses by <br />$700,000, Finance Director David LaFrance.said. <br /> <br />It also means that a major initiative to expand the northern end of its metro-area delivery system <br />- a project that could mean bringing more water from the Western Slope - may be delayed, <br />though efforts to secure the federal permits will continue. <br /> <br />This fall the agency likely will impose an 8 percent rate hike, as it had announced, but will also <br />look at changing future rate structures. Despite concern over low water use, board members <br /> <br />27 <br />