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<br />.... ,. f' '-. <br />".I _." <.j <br />&"..w_ ~. <br /> <br />Ruedi Reservoir is one of the participating reservoirs in the Coordinated Reservoir <br />Operations (CRO) effort of the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program <br />(RIP). The effort is directed at augmenting peak flows in the IS-Mile Reach of the <br />Colorado River to benefit habitat improvement and spawning for two of the endangered <br />Colorado River fishes. The IS-Mile Reach is the IS-mile stretch of the Colorado River <br />above the confluence with the Gunnison River in G rand Valley. <br /> <br />Due to the below average snowpack conditions in the Upper Colorado River Basin, water <br />supply forecasts indicated thatmostofthe CRO participating reservoirs would not fill. In <br />addition, it was unlikely that the natural peak could be sufficiently augmented to achieve <br />the minimum peak threshold established by the Fish and Wildlife Service. For these <br />reasons, the CRO effort was cancelled for water year 2001. <br /> <br />Due to the warm and dry summer conditions, calls were placed by senior water right <br />holders on the Colorado River at the Cameo gauge throughout the irrigation season. This <br />resulted in contract releases from Ruedi Reservoir of 28.7 acre-feet in July, 376.6 acre- <br />feet in August, and 313.6 acre-feet in September. There were no out-of- priority <br />diversions during water year 2001, and thus no releases were required to replace project <br />depletions, <br /> <br />Ruedi Reservoir has 5,000 acre-feet firm and 5,000 acre-feet of water four out of five <br />years through re-regulation obligated for release to assist with recovery ofthe endangered <br />Colorado River fishes. In WY 2001 Reclamation contracted the Colorado Water <br />Conservation Board to provide an additional 10,825 acre-feet of water to the Fish and <br />Wildlife Service to assist in meeting target flows in the IS-Mile Reach. Due to the <br />generally drier than average conditions in the Colorado River basin, the target flow for the <br />IS-Mile Reach was initially set at 1240 cfs. However, this target varied between 1240 <br />cfs and 810 cfs throughout the summer, as hydrologic conditions warranted. Reservoir <br />releases of 65 cfs for the endangered fish began on July 24. These releases were <br />gradually increased to 150 cfs by the end of August. Endangered fish flow releases were <br />increased to a maximum for the year of approximately 250 cfs during the second week of <br />September. These releases were gradually reduced to 125 cfs by the last week of <br />September. The endangered fish flow releases were again increased during the last week <br />of September to approximately 160 cfs, where they remained until ceaSing for the year on <br />October 10. A total of 21,345 acre-feet was released during the year from Ruedi <br />Reservoir to benefit the endangered fish. With the exception of a one-week period in <br />September, the flows in the Fryingpan River were maintained below 300 cfs throughout <br />the irrigation/flow augmentation season. <br /> <br />Due to the relatively warm and dry conditions within the basin and the relatively large <br />endangered fish flow releases, Ruedi Reservoir finished the water year with 78,178 acre- <br />feet in storage on September 30. This end-of-year storage represents 83 percent of <br />average and is at an elevation of about 7739.60 feet. The total inflow to the reservoir <br />from April through September was 72,500 acre-feet, or about 64 percentOof average. <br /> <br />S <br />