Banner: Bureau of Reclamation, Great Plains Region
Reclamation Home             Regional Offices             Newsroom             Library             Dataweb

Water Supply and Utilization Report
North Platte River Basin
Wyoming Area Office

This report concerns the operation of Reclamation facilities in the North Platte River Basin. 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.

North Platte River Basin Inflow

The August inflows were below average for all reservoirs except Glendo Reservoir in the North Platte Basin.

(1000 acre-feet)
  August
Inflow
August
Historical Inflow
Accumulated Inflow
(October - August)
Reservoir W.Yr.
2007
30 Yr.
Avg.5
% of
Avg.
W.Yr.
2006
W.Yr.
2005
W.Yr.
2004
W.Yr.
2007
30 Yr.
Avg.5
% of
Avg.
Seminoe 27.1 35.1 77 18.1 28.8 18.5 671.0 924.7 73
Pathfinder1, 2 -3.2 8.6 NA 0.0 -3.0 -1.9 47.4 135.5 35
Glendo3 6.6 -0.6 NA 0.4 5.8 2.9 151.8 194.5 78
Guernsey4 -1.3 1.9 NA 6.0 2.0 4.9 10.4 31.3 33
1 It is assumed that there is no gain between Seminoe and Kortes Dams.
2 River gain between Kortes and Pathfinder Dams.
3 River gain between Pathfinder and Glendo Dams.
4 River gain between Glendo and Guernsey Dams.
5 30 year average. (1977-2006)

North Platte River Basin
Reservoir Inflow
August

Graph of North Platte River Basin Reservoir Inflow for August 2007

North Platte River Basin Outflow

The August outflows for Seminoe and Kortes Reservoirs were above average with the other North Platte Reservoirs near average.

(1000 acre-feet)
  August
Outflow
August
Historical Outflow
Accumulated Outflow
(October - August)
Reservoir W.Yr.
2007
30 Yr.
Avg.2
% of
Avg.
W.Yr.
2006
W.Yr.
2005
W.Yr.
2004
W.Yr.
2007
30 Yr.
Avg.2
% of
Avg.
Seminoe 142.8 76.0 188 69.0 103.4 55.5 707.9 872.0 81
Kortes 142.7 76.0 188 68.9 103.4 55.4 707.6 871.8 81
Pathfinder 154.3 155.8 99 128.0 97.9 63.6 751.5 934.9 80
Alcova 144.9 138.1 105 112.5 87.3 44.6 696.1 864.9 80
Gray Reef 145.0 138.1 105 112.5 87.3 44.5 695.9 864.4 81
Glendo1 272.5 293.1 93 263.9 276.4 209.0 860.7 989.1 87
Guernsey 283.2 286.4 99 282.2 265.5 214.9 856.3 996.6 86
1 In 1993 an outlet was constructed at Glendo Dam which is used to provide a flow of approximately 25 cubic feet per second.
2 30 year average (1977-2006).

North Platte River Basin
Reservoir Outflow
August

GRaph of North Platte River Basin Reservoir Outflow for August 2007

North Platte River Basin Reservoir Storage

The August storage for the major reservoirs; Seminoe, Pathfinder and Glendo was below average. The Pathfinder and Seminoe Reservoir storages were the lowest August storage in the last 30 years.

(1000 acre-feet)
Reservoir Total Storage
End of August
End of August
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
Seminoe 245.5 678.3 36 280.4 480.2 290.4 1017.3 24
Kortes 4.7 4.6 102 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7 100
Pathfinder 185.5 524.5 35 209.2 236.5 192.1 1016.5 18
Alcova 180.0 180.0 100 180.1 180.1 181.5 184.4 98
Gray Reef 1.5 1.3 115 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.8 83
Glendo 85.7 141.4 61 110.9 133.4 92.3 517.5 17
Guernsey 14.0 28.5 49 13.6 17.2 6.1 45.6 31
Total 716.9 1558.6 46 1085.2 1053.7 768.6 2787.8 26
1 Average is based on the 1977-2006 period.

North Platte River Basin
Reservoir Storage
End of August

Graph of North Platte River Basin Reservoir Storage End of August 2007

North Platte River Basin Reservoir Storage Ownership

All ownerships except PacifiCorp were below average. Kendrick ownership was the lowest August ownership in the last 30 years. Glendo ownership was the 3rd lowest August ownership in the last 30 years.

(1000 acre-feet)
Ownership Ownership of water
End of August
End of August
Historical Ownership
Total
Storage
Capacity
Percent
of
Capacity
W.Yr.
2007
30 Yr.
Avg.5
% of
Avg.
W.Yr.
2006
W.Yr.
2005
W.Yr.
2004
Kendrick 368.8 920.4 40 452.0 558.1 656.0 1201.7 31
North Platte1 286.8 484.5 59 312.7 434.5 42.9 1062.1 27
Glendo 57.7 138.1 42 31.4 55.5 65.4 183.2 31
Inland Lakes2 0.0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 46.0 0
Cheyenne3 1.3 3.16 42 2.0 3.0 1.6 10.0 13
PacifiCorp4 1.8 1.8 100 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 90
WWDC8 0.3 N/A N/A 0.7 0.5 0.5 N/A N/A
Other7 0.0 6.9 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 N/A N/A
1 This includes North Platte Guernsey and North Platte Pathfinder.
2 Water stored temporarily in mainstem facilities for later transfer to the Inland Lakes. This table does not reflect that water currently stored in the Inland Lakes.
3 The City of Cheyenne has a storage contract to store water in Seminoe Reservoir by exchange of Upper North Platte Basin water through a system of trans-basin diversions.
4 Pacific Power has a storage contract to store water in Glendo Reservoir for Dave Johnston Powerplant.
5 Average is based on the 1977-2006 period.
6 Average is based on the 1982-2006 period.
7 Water which is captured in the re-regulation space of Glendo in addition to storage rights, operational water account, and replacement of evaporation losses is labeled as "Re-regulation of Natural Flow" per Wyoming Board of Control Order Docket Number I-2000-3-8 in water Division Number One. In accordance with 2007 Natural Flow and Ownership Procedures, the operational account may contain up to 15,000 acre-feet. On August 31, 2007, the Operational account contained 0 Acre-feet and Re-Regulation space contained 0 Acre-feet.
8 Wyoming Water Development Commission contracted a portion of Glendo Reservoir re-regulation space for storage of non-projectwater in 2007.

North Platte River Basin
Ownership of Water
End of August

Graph of North Platte River Basin Ownership of Water End of August 2007

Inland Lakes Reservoir Storage

( acre-feet)
Reservoir Total
Storage
End of August
30 Year
Average5
Percent
of
Average
Total
Storage
Capacity
Lake Alice 2,600 3,100 84 11,0341
Little Lake Alice 321 3176 101 1,1662
Lake Winters Creek 628 6016 104 1,7463
Lake Minatare 15,700 16,000 98 58,7954
1 At Elevation 4182.0
2 At Elevation 4139.0
3 At Elevation 4125.0
4 At Elevation 4125.0
5 30 year average. (1977-2006)
6 16 year average. (1991-2006)

North Platte River Basin Gross Generation

Power generation was at or above average for all powerplants except for Glendo powerplant in the North Platte Basin.

(Energy in giga-watt hours)
  August
Gross Generation
August
Historical Generation
Accumulated Gross Gen.
(October - August)
Powerplant W.Yr.
2007
30 Yr.
Avg.2
% of
Avg.
W.Yr.
2006
W.Yr.
2005
W.Yr.
2004
W.Yr.
2007
30 Yr.
Avg.2
% of
Avg.
Seminoe 18.6 11.5 162 8.8 15.1 6.9 89.4 125.3 71
Kortes 24.6 12.4 198 11.8 16.7 8.3 111.1 133.2 83
Fremont Canyon1 35.2 33.2 106 29.5 22.6 14.9 157.6 216.2 73
Alcova 20.2 18.0 112 15.5 11.9 5.4 86.5 107.5 80
Glendo 14.4 17.0 85 15.7 18.3 11.2 55.3 72.6 76
Guernsey 4.4 4.1 107 4.5 4.3 3.5 12.2 16.1 76
1 The powerplant for Pathfinder Dam is Fremont Canyon.
2 Average is based on the 1977-2006 period.

North Platte River Basin
Gross Generation
August

Graph of North Platte River Basin Gross Generation for August 2007

North Platte Estimated April-July Runoff

(1000 acre-feet)
Basin July 1, 2007 Estimated April-July
Runoff with actual April and May
30 Yr.
April-July
Runoff
Avg.2
Most
Probable
% of
Avg.
Comparative Actual
April - July Runoff
Reasonable
Maximum1
Expected Reasonable
Minimum1
W.Yr.
2006
W.Yr.
2005
W.Yr.
2004
W.Yr.
2003
Seminoe Reservoir 495 3953 345 700 56 546 733 277 530
Sweetwater River
Above Pathfinder
Reservoir
30 254 22 62 40 32 66 34 17
Alcova to Glendo 110 1005 98.5 121 83 45 39 34 93
1 The probability is estimated to be 9 chances in 10 that the actual volume will fall between the reasonable minimum and reasonable maximum.
2 Average is based on the 1977-2006 period.
3 The actual April-June inflow into Seminoe Reservoir was 273,000 AF.
4 The actual April-June inflow from Sweetwater River was 20,000 AF.
5 The actual April-June gain between Alcova and Glendo Reservoirs was 96,000 AF.
Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Accessibility | FOIA | Quality of Information | FAQ | Notices
DOI | Recreation.gov | USA.gov