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<br />With the reasonable minimum runoff, a full supply of water would be available to
<br />all users along the lower Rio Grande; however, there would be a serious shortage
<br />in 1992, With careful management-of existing storage, larger projects like the
<br />Middle Rio Grande will get through the season. Extreme surface flow shortages
<br />would develop on the Pecos River, as carryover storage is essentially nonexistent
<br />at the present. This would result in farmers relying heavily on ground-water
<br />sources,
<br />
<br />The reasonable maximum runoff would result in a full supply to all users on the
<br />lower Rio Grande, All projects within the upper Rio Grande basin would have full
<br />supplies, although the Middle Rio Grande Project would require supplemental
<br />releases in the late season. Conditions within the Pecos River basin under this
<br />scenario would provide a full water supply to Carlsbad Irrigation District, with
<br />some carryover storage potentiaL
<br />
<br />GREAT PLAINS REGION
<br />
<br />The Great Plains Region is Reclamation's largest region, It includes all of the
<br />States of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, In
<br />addition, it includes most of Montana, Wyoming, and Texas and about half of
<br />Colorado, It encompasses the Missouri River drainage and other tributaries to the
<br />Mississippi and Gulf Coast,
<br />
<br />Water Year 1990
<br />
<br />Soil moisture measurements varied widely at the beginning of the water year over
<br />this large region, On October 1, 1989, most of the region was in drought, ranging
<br />from mild to extreme drought circumstances. Exceptions were in northwestern
<br />Montana and southern Kansas and central Oklahoma, where moist conditions
<br />existed, As the year progressed into the spring and summer, additional moist
<br />areas were indicated, particularly in Kansas, Oklahoma, and northern Texas,
<br />However, by the end of the water year, very few areas with moist soil conditions
<br />remained, Overall, September 30, 1990, conditions in the region ranged from mild
<br />to extreme drought, with the extreme conditions concentrated mostly in the north,
<br />Some near-normal and moist conditions existed in Oklahoma and Texas at year's
<br />end, Overall, the soil moisture content indicated that conditions in the region at
<br />the beginning of water year 1991 on October 1, 1990, were similar to those at the
<br />beginning of the previous water year on October 1, 1989, but with some areal
<br />redistributions.
<br />
<br />Snowpack on February 1, 1990, ranged from slightly below normal to near normal
<br />for the river basins originating in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, The range of
<br />conditions remained about the same near the end of the snow season on
<br />May 1, 1990, with some improvement in some basins in eastern Colorado,
<br />
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