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Ruedi Reservoir water releases ramped up for runoff, recovery effort

Staff report

Releases from Ruedi Reservoir are spiking to make room for runoff and to help accommodate endangered fish on the Colorado River near Grand Junction.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation boosted the releases from the Ruedi Dam by 50 cubic feet per second Friday morning, and it planned another bump of 50 cfs at 8 p.m.

The combined new releases will boost the total releases from the dam to about 370.



“We’ve seen a new forecast come in, and runoff inflows to Ruedi are increasing more than what was forecast back on May 1,” said Reclamation Bureau spokeswoman Kara Lamb. “This is not atypical, especially in years when we continue to add snowpack through the month of May, as has happened this year.”

Additional releases will be undertaken over the weekend as part of the Coordinated Reservoir Operations to benefit the endangered fish. One release of 50 cfs will occur at 8 a.m. today, and another of 50 cfs will occur at 8 p.m., the Reclamation Bureau announced Friday.




The procedures will be repeated Sunday, boosting the total release from the dam to 570 cfs by Sunday night. The increases will have a drastic effect on the flow of the Roaring Fork River below the confluence with the Fryingpan River in Basalt.