ASPINALL – December unregulated inflow into Blue Mesa Reservoir was 21,000 acre-feet or 81 percent of average. Precipitation during December was observed to be about 90 percent of average. The Gunnison River basin snowpack as of January 12th was averaging about 82 percent. The current inflow rate into Blue Mesa Reservoir is about 350 cfs while reservoir releases are averaging about 750 cfs. The past four months have seen below average inflow into Blue Mesa Reservoir of about 83 percent. The present reservoir elevation is 7488.90 feet, which corresponds to a storage content of about 573,000 acre-feet.
The first Water Supply Forecast for Water Year 2010 has been issued and the April through July unregulated inflow is forecasted to be at 575,000 acre-feet (80% of normal). Based on this forecast, Blue Mesa Reservoir is projected to fill by July 2010.
On November 5, 2009, the National Weather Service’s River Forecasting Center issued its forecasted inflow into Blue Mesa for the next 3 months. The unregulated inflow forecast for November, December, and January is for 82,000 acre-feet, which is 102% of average for these months.
The next meeting of the "Aspinall Unit Working Group" will be held on Thursday January 21st in the Montrose, Colorado, starting at 1:00 PM. At this meeting, review of last summer and fall reservoir operations, and plans for this winter and next spring 2010 operations will be discussed. These meetings are open forum discussions on the Aspinall Unit reservoir operations with many interested groups participating. Anyone needing further information about these meetings should contact Dan Crabtree in the Grand Junction Area Office at (970) 248-0652. To view minutes from the last Aspinall meeting, click on: Meeting Notes.Paul Davidson
updated January 14, 2010
Email comments/inquires to: ResourceMgr@usbr.gov