OCR Text |
Show River flows will decrease during late summer season Information recently released re-leased by the Bureau of Reclamation concerning river flows during late July and early August reveals that precipitation continued to be low in July in southeastern Utah, which further reduced the runoff forecast. Flows now appear to be about nine million acre-feet for the April through July runoff period, 115 percent of normal. The flow of the Colorado Colo-rado River at Westwater Canyon was down to 4,500 cubic feet per second in August and is expected to recede for several weeks. Cataract Canyon flow (including (in-cluding the Green River) was about 8,500 cfs, down from a June peak of 54.000 cfs. This flow is also expected to drop for several weeks. Lake Powell Po-well is at an elevation of 3,652 feet . and is not expected to increase any more this year. In Grand Canyon on the Colorado River, flows at I Lees Ferry will average I around 18,000 cfs through ' the remainder of August. In September the mean daily flows will decrease to about 13,600 cfs. Mini-I Mini-I mum releases from the I Glen Canyon Dam (usual-I (usual-I ly hitting between mid-' mid-' night and 6 a.m.) will be 3,000 cfs. On the upper Green I River, the inflow to Fontenelle Reservoir was 3,500 cfs on August 4. The reservoir will remain full for several weeks, but present releases, now about 3,500 cfs, will decrease as the inflow lessens. Flaming Gorge Reservoir Reser-voir was 6,015 feet above mean sea level on August 4. The level is expected to rise one foot by the end of August. The mean daily release will be about 1,700 cfs for several months. Daily fluctuations of releases re-leases from 800 cfs to 4,000 cfs will continue in response to power demands. de-mands. The hourly pattern pat-tern of releases will be similar to Glen Canyon with the minimum occurring occurr-ing from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. The flow of the Green River at Green River, Utah, was about 4.000 cfs on August 4. Flows will continue to decrease for several weeks. On the San Juan River, : the present release of 530 ; cfs from Navajo Dam will continue for several more ! months. Flows of the San j Juan River at Bluff are ! now about 500 cfs, which j will decrease during Sept. j Navajo Reservoir reached a high elevation this year ' of 6,055 feet. On August 4, the level had dropped .03 foot. Blue Mesa Reservoir is presently at an elevation of 7,518 feet. This level will gradually be drawn down through the winter. For further information on area river flows contact the Bureau of Reclamation Regional Offices in Salt Lake City at 524-5571 or 524-5573. |