OCR Text |
Show Water Supply Looking Good Despite Drought level on June 30, 1974, but due to the drought, even this elevation was below earlier predictions. In spite of summer drought conditions during 1974, Bureau Bur-eau of Reclamation projects in the Intermountain Region provided good to excellent water supplies duringthe 1974 irrigation season, according ac-cording to Commissioner of Reclamation Gilbert G. Stamm. "Without the irrigation water supplied from storage reservoirs, crop losses resulting re-sulting from the extremely dry summer would have been widespread," Stamm said. Precipitation over the entire en-tire West varied greatly during dur-ing 1974, from above normal in the Pacific Northwest to far below normal in the Southwest. Precipitation over the Upper Up-per Colorado River Basin was scattered and varied, ranging from 52 percent to 85 percent, with the lowest readings at the most southerly south-erly areas. Winter carryover storage of water in Bureau of Reclamation Rec-lamation reservoirs in the Intermountain area is generally gen-erally below average. Thus if the region receives below average snowfall during the coming winter and spring, some reservoirs could run short of irrigation water during 1975. If average or above average amounts of snow are received, irrigation ir-rigation prospects should be normal. In the northern part of the Colorado River Basin, Fon-- tenelle Reservoir and Flan ing Gorge Lake both filled to capacity during 1974. In more southerly areas, neither neith-er Blue Mesa Lake nor Navajo Nava-jo Lake filled, although both reservoirs still contain ample supplies of water. Lake Powell, which accumulates accum-ulates runoff from the entire Upper Colorado River Basin, reached an all-time high of 3,667 feet above mean sea |