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<br />nDC:3;;7- <br /> <br />Reservoir inflow to the region, as gaged by inflow to Lake Powell in the Upper <br />Colorado Region, was less than 70 percent of normal early in the year and <br />degraded to less than 50 percent of normal by the end of the water year, <br /> <br />Reservoir storage in the Lower Colorado Region, consisting of storage on the main <br />stem Colorado River, remained at about 80 percent of capacity throughout the <br />year, (Storage at year's end was about 3 percent of capacity less than it was at the <br />beginning of the year,) Reservoir storage in this region is reported as a percent of <br />capacity, rather than as a percent of average, because carryover storage is <br />provided for many years, The average for a particular time of the year is not as <br />meaningful as it is for a reservoir that provides carryover storage on an annual <br />cycle, <br /> <br />The low runoff in 1990 continued the dry pattern that has been causing a <br />drawdown in the Colorado River reservoirs. The below average flows of 1988, <br />1989, and 1990 have reduced the storage in Lake Mead by about 7 million acre- <br />feet, Minimum deliveries of storage water must be maintained to meet obligations <br />pursuant to the laws that govern administration of the Colorado River. Deliveries <br />during 1990 required to meet these obligations were 9,1 million acre-feet. <br /> <br />Projected Conditions for 1991 <br /> <br />Under the most probable water supply conditions for 1991, Lake Mead will not <br />reach a storage level greater than that of 1990, due partly to the need to refill <br />upper basin reservoirs and also due to the dry soil conditions in the upper basin. <br />Lake Mead is projected to continue to drop through the fall and winter, reaching <br />its seasonal low point in March 1991. Deliveries from Lake Mead in 1991 are <br />projected to be 8.8 million acre-feet. <br /> <br />UPPER COLORADO REGION <br /> <br />The Upper Colorado Region includes most of Utah and New Mexico and portions <br />of Nevada, ldaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and Texas. The region encompasses the <br />Colorado River drainage above Lees Ferry, Arizona, the Rio Grande basin, and the <br />closed-basin drainages flowing westward from the Wasatch Range in Utah. <br /> <br />Water Year 1990 <br /> <br />Soil moisture content indicated mild to severe drought conditions at the beginning <br />of the water year for most of the region, although extreme drought circumstances <br />were indicated for parts of the region, As the water year progressed, the Colorado <br />River and upper Rio Grande drainages degraded until most areas were in <br />extreme drought conditions by the end of the water year. Due to late <br />precipitation, the lower Rio Grande was moist to very moist by the end of the <br /> <br />8 <br />