DEPARTMENT of the INTERIOR * * * * * * * * * * * * * ********news release BUREAU OF RECLAMATION (Rusho (801) 524-5403) Upper Region Salt Lake City, April 11, 1978

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COLORADO RUNOFF FORECAST ABOVE NORMAL

Runoff of the and its tributaries above

during the April through July period is forecast at 10.8 m~llion acre-

feet, or 138 percent of normal, the Bureau of Reclamation announced

today. This runoff will allow some reservoirs to fill and others to

regain the storage loss caused by last year's drouth and drawdown.

The forecast is based on the April 1 water content of 64 snow courses within the watershed area of the Upper Colorado River Basin and presumes that precipitation during the remainder of the runoff season will be normal.

Lake Powell should rise from its present elevation, 3, 623 feet, about 41 feet to elevation 3,664 above mean sea level by July. This would be about 11 feet lower than the all-time high reached in 1975. Releases from from April to September 1978 will be 4.5 million acre-feet with a water year total for 1978 of 8.2 million acre-feet.

Lake Powell should remain above elevation 3,658 feet through the summer months and then drop slowly during the fall and winter. Prior to the 1979 spring runoff, the lake should be about elevation 3,654 feet with an active content of 18.3 million acre-feet.

About 1.65 million acre-feet of runoff should originate on the Green River watershed above , or 144 percent of normal. Of this amount, 150,000 acre-feet will be stored in . Releases from Flaming Gorge should be about 1.1 million acre-feet during water year 1978. Flaming Gorge should reach elevation 6,020 feet above mean sea level during July and a content of 2.9 million acre-feet. on the is expected to receive about 1 million acre-feet of inflow, or 127 percent of the long-time average. The lake should fill to elevation 7,519 feet above mean sea level with a usable content of 830,000 acre-feet. Morrow Point Reser­ voir, immediately downstream from , should remain near full at 117, 000 acre-feet throughout the year. , dm,mstream from , should operate near full at elevation 6,755 feet above mean sea level. Crystal Reservoir will be used to reregulate variable releases from Morrow Point to an even flow in the Gunnison River downstream. It is anticipated that flows through the Black Canyon below the Gunnison Tunnel Diversion will be only 200 cubic feet per second for most of the summer.

On the San Juan River, Lake should receive a normal runoff. Releases from the lake through the spring and summer months should be 530 cubic feet per second. With the 720,000 acre-feet mean forecast, the lake level should reach elevation 6,068 feet above mean sea level during July.

Lake Mead's present elevation is 1,188 feet above mean sea level, or about 1 foot lower than a year ago. The reservoir is 33 feet below the top of the raised spillway gates at . At present, it con­ tains 21.2 million acre-feet of available storage or 81 percent of its capacity. Based on the present forecast, is expected to decline 8 feet to a.bout elevation 1,180 feet above mean sea level by the end of June.

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