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A river runs through it: Even with increased water on the Colorado, southern reservoirs at below normal levels

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 17, 2008 at 7:33 am

From Lake Havasu’s Today’s News-Herald:

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is projecting that, for the first time in seven years, more water is flowing through the Colorado River. June run-off down the river from snow pack is running about 117 percent above normal, and the projected run-off from April to July is expected to be about 111 percent of normal.

But even with the increased water, two of the four major storage reservoirs along the lower Colorado River remain significantly below normal. According to the July 14 Lower Colorado River Water Supply report, Lake Powell is 37 percent below capacity while Lake Mead is 54 percent below full.

In April, the Bureau of Reclamation announced that high snow pack, about 122 percent of average, resulted in increased releases from Lake Powell to Lake Mead. An additional 653,000 acre-feet of water was released, elevating Mead by about six feet.

However, Lake Havasu is at 94% capacity:

The Lake Havasu reservoir is the withdrawal point on the river for both the Metropolitan Water District, which serves Los Angeles and San Diego, and the Central Arizona Project, which serves Phoenix and Tucson.

Lake Havasu’s maximum elevation is 450 feet, minimum 445. The Bureau of Reclamation showed the current elevation, as of Tuesday, at 447.74 feet.

Now that’s precision! Also included in this article is an update on the Drop 2 Reservoir project, scheduled to begin construction next month:

According to the project description, the 8,000 acre-foot Drop 2 Storage Reservoir “would store Colorado River water that has been released from Parker Dam to meet downstream water orders but cannot be delivered for various reasons, such as changed weather conditions, high run-off into the river, or a number of other factors. This water typically is not put to beneficial use within the United States due to the lack of sufficient storage capacity below Parker Dam.”

In the past, that ‘non-storable’ water would have flowed to Mexico. Read more from Today’s News-Herald by clicking here.

July 17, 2008 · Filed Under Colorado River Basin

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