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hatrack

(59,446 posts)
Sat May 26, 2018, 08:03 AM May 2018

Colorado River @ Grand Junction Runoff Peaks 3 Weeks Early @ 8,500 cfs; Historic Avg. 13,600 cfs

Colorado River flows have fallen sharply in the days after the runoff peaked, in an early decline that might be a sign that seasonal snowfall was lighter than expected. Some of the decline "could be related to a few days of cooler weather but I think the dry winter is showing more of an effect on streamflows than previously predicted," hydrologist Erik Knight of the Grand Junction office of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said.

The Colorado River at Cameo hit its peak May 15 with flows of 8,500 cubic feet per second. The average seasonal peak for the Cameo gauge is 13,600 cfs and it usually takes until June 9 to hit that high-water mark.

"So not only is our seasonal peak below the average, it occurred over three weeks early and did not even reach the average flow on a day that is typically three weeks before the average seasonal peak date," Knight said.

Forecasts still call for the Upper Colorado River Basin to deliver 3 million acre-feet of water to Lake Powell this year, or 42 percent of average. Much of the reason for that is releases from Fontanelle and Flaming Gorge reservoirs on the Green River in Wyoming, which joins with the Colorado in Utah.

EDIT

https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/western_colorado/colorado-river-flows-decline/article_9b0c1206-5f15-11e8-8ec4-10604b9ffe60.html

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