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Water Supply and Utilization Report
Bighorn River Basin
Wyoming Area Office

This report concerns the operation of Reclamation facilities in the Shoshone and Wind/Bighorn River Basins. Reclamation defines a water year as the time period of October 1 through September 30. Water year is abbreviated in this report as W.Yr. Other organizations furnished information for the Water Supply and Utilization Report. Their cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Bighorn River Basin Inflow

June inflow was below average at Bull Lake, Boysen, and Buffalo Bill Reservoirs. Inflow to Buffalo Bill and Boysen Reservoirs during June was the 3rd and 4th lowest in the past 30 years, respectively.

(1000 acre-feet)
  June
Inflow
June
Historical Inflow
Accumulated Inflow
(October-June)
Reservoir W.Yr.
2007
30 Yr.
Avg.1
% of
Avg.
W.Yr.
2006
W.Yr.
2005
W.Yr.
2004
W.Yr.
2007
30 Yr.
Avg.1
% of
Avg.
Bull Lake 37.8 61.0 62 49.8 60.7 47.4 94.8 108.5 87
Boysen 61.3 243.7 25 64.6 264.6 97.2 376.7 693.7 54
Buffalo Bill 154.9 289.5 54 231.2 209.3 169.2 480.0 592.0 81
1 Average is based on the 1977-2006 period.

Bighorn River Basin
Reservoir Inflow
June

Graph of Bighorn River Basin Reservoir Inflow for June 2007

Bighorn River Basin Outflow

Releases from Bull Lake, Boysen and Buffalo Bill Reservoirs were below average during June.

(1000 acre-feet)
  June
Outflow
June
Historical Outflow
Accumulated Outflow
(October-June)
Reservoir W.Yr.
2007
30 Yr.
Avg.1
% of
Avg.
W.Yr.
2006
W.Yr.
2005
W.Yr.
2004
W.Yr.
2007
30 Yr.
Avg.1
% of
Avg.
Bull Lake 20.1 24.6 82 12.7 50.0 8.6 50.0 59.1 85
Boysen 66.0 136.5 48 69.5 228.7 65.4 346.2 644.5 54
Buffalo Bill 95.3 166.3 57 152.3 182.1 92.3 299.0 454.9 66
1 Average is based on the 1977-2006 period.

Bighorn River Basin
Reservoir Outflow
June

Graph of Bighorn River Basin Reservoir Outflow for June 2007

Bighorn River Basin Storage

Storage at the end of June was above average at Buffalo Bill Reservoir, while Bull Lake, Boysen, and Pilot Butte Reservoirs recorded below average storage. End of June storage at Boysen was the 4th lowest in 30 years.

(1000 acre-feet)
Reservoir Total Storage
End of June
End of June
Historical Storage
Total
Conservation
Storage
Capacity
Percent
of
Capacity
W.Yr.
2007
30 Yr.
Avg.1
% of
Avg.
W.Yr.
2006
W.Yr.
2005
W.Yr.
2004
Bull Lake 95.9 126.6 76 128.8 149.7 99.9 152.5 63
Boysen 478.3 662.8 72 544.2 737.5 489.8 741.6 64
Buffalo Bill 622.1 560.52 111 636.4 625.5 519.3 646.6 96
Pilot Butte 19.2 30.0 64 23.8 31.6 27.2 33.7 57
1 Average is based on the 1977-2006 period.
2 This does not reflect a long term average because in 1992 the capacity of the reservoir was increased to approximately 646,565 acre-feet as a result of raising the dam. The average used here reflects data from 1993 through 2006.

Bighorn River Basin
Reservoir Storage
End of June

Graph of Bighorn River Basin Reservoir Storage End of June 2007

Bighorn River Basin Generation

Generation was average or greater at all powerplants except Boysen and Buffalo Bill Powerplants.

(Energy in giga-watt hours)
  June
Gross Generation
June
Historical Generation
Accumulated Gross Gen.
(October-June)
Powerplant W.Yr.
2007
Avg. % of
Avg.
W.Yr.
2006
W.Yr.
2005
W.Yr.
2004
W.Yr.
2007
Avg. % of
Avg.
Boysen1 5.2 7.7 68 5.7 11.4 5.0 25.7 47.7 54
Pilot Butte2 0.9 0.6 150 1.0 0.6 0.7 1.1 1.1 100
Heart Mtn.3 3.0 2.4 125 3.1 2.3 1.2 6.4 5.7 112
Buffalo Bill3 5.9 10.8 55 11.1 12.8 7.8 19.1 39.8 48
Shoshone3 2.1 2.1 100 2.1 2.1 2.0 14.7 14.4 102
Spirit Mtn.4 3.2 2.7 119 3.1 3.1 3.0 6.5 5.7 114
1 Average is based on the 1977-2006 period.
2 Average is based on the 1990-2006 period.
3 Average is based on the 1993-2006 period.
4 Average is based on the 1995-2006 period.

Bighorn River Basin
Gross Generation
June

Graph of Bighorn River Basin Gross Generation for June 2007

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