ASPINALL – October unregulated inflow into Blue Mesa Reservoir was 33,000 acre-feet or 91 percent of average. Precipitation during October was observed to be about 90 percent of average. The current inflow rate into Blue Mesa Reservoir is about 550 cfs while reservoir releases are averaging about 500 cfs. Blue Mesa's present elevation is 7492.83 feet, which corresponds to a storage content of about 604,000 acre-feet. The unregulated reservoir inflow into Blue Mesa Reservoir during water year 2009 was 1,018,000 acre-feet, or about 108 percent of average.
Releases from Crystal are currently set at 500 cfs. The Gunnison Diversion Tunnel was shut down for the season on October 30, with exception of some small 50 to 100 cfs diversions taken bi-weekly for municipal water needs in Montrose, Colorado. River flows below the tunnel are essentially the same as releases from the Dam, with the exception of when the tunnel is taking water to refill Fairfield Reservoir for Montrose municipal water needs. To view the most current reservoir elevation, content, inflow and release, click on: Blue Mesa Reservoir Data or Crystal Reservoir Data.
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 November 13, 2009
Email comments/inquires to: ResourceMgr@usbr.gov