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| (Above) Recent storms have boosted snow pack in the Colorado Rockies, including the Fryingpan River Valley upstream of Ruedi Reservoir. |
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| (Above) It's a good sign when the tallest members of the West Slope crew are dwarfed by snow covering the diversion dams. |
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| (Above) The crew opened Mormon Diversion Dam during blizzard conditions. |
Ruedi Reservoir
Snow and more snow is good news for the upper Fryingpan River Basin, near Basalt, Colorado. Prior to the spring storms in March and April, continuing drought conditions put a steady draw on Ruedi Reservoir through the fall and well into spring.
Water Supply Update
During dry conditions earlier this spring, Ruedi was one of several reservoirs to respond to a senior water right call downstream on the Colorado River near Cameo. A few days later, the call came off the river because it started to snow across the upper Colorado River Basin.
Prior to the spring storms, it was anticipated that Ruedi Reservoir would not fill this year. Reclamation is currently awaiting the May 1 Forecast data in order to re-evaluate spring operations at the reservoir.
Throughout winter, releases from Ruedi Dam to the Fryingpan River were maintained around 40 cfs. The release regime changes around May 1 each year, bumping up to whichever is less: inflow to Ruedi or 110 cfs. Typically, this release amount is maintained until the start of run-off.
Reclamation bumped up operations to meet the spring release rate in two installments, the first on April 30 and the second on May 1. Each change increased the release from Ruedi Dam to the lower Fryingpan by roughly 35 cfs. By late afternoon on May 1, releases from the dam to the river were around 110 cfs.
Ruedi is about 60% full.
Collection System News
Water from Ruedi Reservoir is provided to water users across Colorado's Western Slope, in part to compensate for diversions made further upstream via the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project.
The rest of the Fry-Ark Project delivers water diverted by 16 high-elevation diversion dams. The small sites on creeks and streams tributary to the Fryingpan channel water to the Boustead Tunnel, which takes it underneath the Continental Divide. The 16 diversion dams have to be manually opened every spring.
By the time Reclamation's Fry-Ark West Slope crew was able to access the upper reaches of the Fryingpan Valley in April, a different snow pack had accumulated than what had existed back in early March. Snow depths now ranged from three to six, or more, feet.
The crew spent about two weeks opening both the North and South Side Collection systems. Most of the work was conducted during blizzard conditions. "We had one day in those two weeks where it didn't storm," they reported.
Other Links
- Weather, reservoir elevation, and other data is available via the Ruedi weather station.
- The USGS page for streamflow below Ruedi Dam provides up-to-date information for water released to the lower Fryingpan in cfs measurements.
- This graphic displays the fill and draw pattern at Ruedi Reservoir over the past five years.
Information on Ruedi Reservoir and releases to the Fryingpan River can also be obtained by joining the e-mail notification list. To join the list, please contact Kara Lamb.
Current Events and Additional Information
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Last Updated: May 1, 2013