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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 May inflows were below average for Seminoe and Pathfinder Reservoirs in the North Platte Basin. The May inflow into Pathfinder Reservoir was the 6th lowest inflow in the last 30 years.

(1000 acre-feet)
  May
Inflow
May
Historical Inflow
Accumulated Inflow
(October - May)
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 182.6 221.6 82 221.0 226.9 76.9 532.0 512.6 104
Pathfinder1, 2 11.8 31.6 37 10.2 25.1 12.1 47.2 90.7 52
Glendo3 66.0 63.8 103 18.3 23.1 4.2 139.4 175.1 80
Guernsey4 9.8 9.8 100 1.7 1.1 0.8 15.3 24.0 64
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
May

Graph of North Platte River Basin Resrvoir Inflow for May 2007

North Platte River Basin Outflow

The May outflows were below average for all reservoirs in the North Platte Basin.

(1000 acre-feet)
  May
Outflow
May
Historical Outflow
Accumulated Outflow
(October - May)
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 70.4 94.1 75 168.5 80.7 33 360.7 553.5 65
Kortes 70.4 94.0 75 168.5 80.7 32.9 360.6 553.2 65
Pathfinder 45.6 110.1 41 167.1 121.5 77.7 329.1 451.2 73
Alcova 35.7 98.4 36 154.7 112.0 63.4 315.9 437.2 72
Gray Reef 35.9 98.2 37 154.8 111.9 63.1 315.8 437.0 72
Glendo1 38.5 122.9 31 164.8 38.8 25.4 72.6 219.3 33
Guernsey 44.1 127.7 35 162.2 33.5 18.5 62.5 215.3 29
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
May

Graph of North Platte River Basin Reservoir Outflow for May 2007

North Platte River Basin Reservoir Storage

The May storage for the major reservoirs; Seminoe, Pathfinder and Guernsey was below average. The Pathfinder Reservoir storage was the 3rd lowest May storage in the last 30 years.

(1000 acre-feet)
Reservoir Total Storage
End of May
End of May
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 430.3 607.8 71 460.2 487.7 363.0 1017.3 42
Kortes 4.7 4.7 100 4.7 4.7 4.4 4.7 100
Pathfinder 274.1 670.0 41 301.3 210.3 298.6 1016.5 27
Alcova 180.8 179.4 101 179.6 181.2 179.4 184.4 98
Gray Reef 1.5 1.4 107 1.3 1.6 1.5 1.8 83
Glendo 509.6 481.8 106 423.3 459.6 418.5 517.5 98
Guernsey 27.5 35.2 78 27.8 28.6 28.7 45.6 60
Total 1428.5 1980.3 72 1398.2 1373.7 1294.1 2787.8 51
1 Average is based on the 1977-2006 period.

North Platte River Basin
Resrvoir Storage
End of May

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

North Platte River Basin Reservoir Storage Ownership

North Platte ownerships were above average. The other ownerships were below average. Kendrick ownership was the 2nd lowest May ownership in the last 30 years. Glendo ownership was the 3rd lowest May ownership in the last 30 years.

(1000 acre-feet)
Ownership Ownership of water
End of May
End of May
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 422.8 947.8 45 516.3 621.1 720.0 1201.7 35
North Platte1 916.6 820.6 112 823.5 677.0 455.8 1062.1 86
Glendo 76.7 157.2 49 49.7 69.1 96.2 183.2 42
Inland Lakes2 0.0 1.7 0 0.0 0.0 10.0 46.0 0
Cheyenne3 1.6 3.66 44 0.4 1.4 2.7 10.0 16
PacifiCorp4 0.3 1.6 19 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 15
WWDC8 4.8 N/A N/A 5.1 2.4 2.4 N/A N/A
Other7 6.0 41.8 14 1.5 0.6 4.8 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 May 31, 2007, the Operational account contained 5,996 Acre-feet and Re-Regulation space contained 31 acre-feet.
8 Wyoming Water Development Commission contracted a portion of Glendo Reservoir re-regulation space for storage of non-project water in 2007.

North Platte River Basin
Ownership of Water
End of May

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

Inland Lakes Reservoir Storage

(acre-feet)
Reservoir Total
Storage
End of May
30 Year
Average5
Percent of
Average
Total
Storage
Capacity
Lake Alice 4,745 5,100 93 11,0341
Little Lake Alice 212 3106 68 1,1662
Lake Winters Creek 1,025 8926 115 1,7463
Lake Minatare 39,369 43,800 90 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 below average for all powerplants in the North Platte Basin.

(Energy in giga-watt hours)
  May
Gross Generation
May
Historical Generation
Accumulated Gross Gen.
(October - May)
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 9.6 13.0 74 24.7 11.9 3.9 41.2 82.8 50
Kortes 11.4 13.4 85 29.2 13.5 5.5 51.3 90.1 57
Fremont Canyon1 9.9 26.3 38 39.3 28.4 19.2 61.1 115.8 53
Alcova 4.0 12.7 31 21.6 14.9 8.7 33.8 55.1 61
Glendo 3.5 12.4 28 17.5 3.6 2.3 3.4 20.6 17
Guernsey 2.8 3.2 88 4.2 2.1 1.1 1.7 6.4 27
1 The powerplant for Pathfinder Dam is Fremont Canyon.
2 Average is based on the 1977-2006 period.

North Platte River Basin
Gross Generation
May

Graph of North Platte River Basin Gross Generation for May 2007

North Platte Estimated April-July Runoff

(1000 acre-feet)
Basin June 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-May inflow into Seminoe Reservoir was 273,000 AF.
4 The actual April-May inflow from Sweetwater River was 20,000 AF.
5 The actual April-May gain between Alcova and Glendo Reservoirs was 96,000 AF.
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