Denver boosts Dillon Reservoir releases

SUMMIT COUNTY — Flows in the Lower Blue downstream of Dillon Reservoir are rising quickly this week as Denver Water ramps up releases from Dillon Reservoir.

“In order to reduce (but not eliminate) the risk of flooding below Dillon Dam, we will be increasing the outflow to the Blue River over the next few days,” Denver Water engineer Bob Steger said via e-mail. This will create more space in the reservoir to capture the snowmelt,” he said.

The plan is to boost flows to 470 cubic feet per second by the middle of the week. As is the case every spring, Denver Water tries to balance the goals of filling the reservoir to to 9,011-foot level by late May and reducing the risk for downstream flooding, all while trying to provide adequate flows for fisheries, rafting and kayaking.

Steger said Dillon Reservoir currently is holding about 230,000 acre feet. Normal for this date is about 215,000 acre feet, he said.

“You don't often see those kind of flows in the Lower Blue unless they're doing serious releases,” said Colorado River Water Conservation District spokesman Jim Pokrandt. “It's a sign of the kind of year it's been,” Pokrandt said.

The above-normal snowpack should help ensure that all West Slope reservoirs fill and spill this year, Pokrandt said.

That's good news in the bigger water picture. By some predictions, Lake Powell could rise as much as 50 feet this spring, helping to build Colorado's insurance against a possible downstream call on Colorado River water, Pokrandt added.

Runoff into Lake Powell is forecast to be 122 percent of average this year.

Under new guidelines for dividing up water between the Upper and Lower Colorado River Basin states, the above-normal inflow to Lake Powell will lead to increased releases to Lake Meade, the next downstream bucket, Pokrandt said.

Details on the Colorado River guidelines are online at http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/strategies/RecordofDecision.pdf.

bberwyn@summitdaily.com