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<br />'.:::> <br />o <br />N <br />o <br />o <br />o <br /> <br />WATER YEAR 2002 OPERA nONS <br /> <br />Green Mountain Reservoir <br /> <br />Green Mountain Reservoir and Powerplant, completed in 1943, are located south of the town of <br />Kremmling, a few'miles upstream of the confluence of the Blue River and the Colorado River in <br />North Central'Colorado. The reservoir. with a total capacity of 153.639 acre-feet. provides storage <br />water releases for power production, replacement of out-of-priority dcpletions. and contract water <br />deliveries. <br /> <br />The powerplant has two units with a total installed capacity of26 megawatts. The spillway located on <br />the left abutment is controlled by three 25 x 22 foot radial gates and is capable of discharging <br />25,000 ft3 Is. <br /> <br />Reservoir storage on October 1,2001 was low at 98,665 acre-feet, compared to an average September <br />30 storage of 123,390 acre-feet (3D-year average). <br /> <br />Flows along the Colorado River were below average during most of the year, although they were <br />adequate to meet dO~T1stream water users demands. However, releases from Green Mountain <br />Reservoir were needed to meet the requirements at the Cameo stream gage. During the month of <br />October. 200 I. the releases from Green Mountain Reservoir totaled 30.600 acre-feet. which was 6.400 <br />acre-feet above the 3D-year average. For the remainder of the Water Year. monthly releases were <br />reduced, and fell below the 3D-year average. Releases for the year totaled 169.900 acre-feet, the <br />lowest since Water Year 1964. <br /> <br />Even with October-January precipitation over the Green Mountain watershed at 98 % of the 3D-year <br />average, by February I the snow-water content was only 6.5 inches. or 70 % of the 3D-year average. <br />As the spring season arri ved, the snowpack remained low and never recovered from its slow start. <br />Snow-water content remained low throughout the spring season. By late March. temperatures had <br />begun to rise slightly, and flow rates along the West Slope streams began to increase. Depleted <br />inflows into Green Mountain Reservoir had been as high as the 3D-year average until late March. The <br />April to July most-probable-forecast was estimated at 201.000 acre-feet. 73 % of the 3D-year average. <br />But, that forecast never materialized. <br /> <br />April 12 was selected as the stan-of-fill for Water Year 2002 at Green Mountain Reservoir. But by <br />late April, it became clear that flows were not going to be high enough to fill. Inflow for the reservoir <br />did not increase as previously anticipated. Total depleted inflows for the months of May and June <br />were only 23 % ofthe 3D-year average. By the end of the Water Year. depleted inflows into Green <br />Mountain Reservoir had totaled only 123,200 acre-feet. the lowest in C-BT history, and over 200,000 <br />acre-feet below the 3D-year average. <br /> <br />The reservoir reached its lowest level on May I. a water surface elevation of 7896.87 feet, with a <br />total storage volume of67,053 acre-feet. A targeted storage of60.000 acre-feet at the end of <br />April is desired for the most probable runoff condition. while 50,000 acre-feet is desired for the <br />maximum runoff condition. The filling period brought the water surface elevation back up to <br /> <br />7 <br />