NAVAJO – Reclamation will begin ramping up the release from Navajo Reservoir beginning May 9, 2008. The release pattern, duration, and magnitude for the spring peak release will follow operating criteria contained in the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program (SJRIP) Flow Recommendations for Endangered Fish.
The release will be increased from 2,200 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 3,000 cfs on May 9th. The release will remain at 3,000 cfs until Friday, May 16th, when it will be increased to 4,000 cfs. The release will remain at 4,000 cfs until Friday, May 23rd, when it will be increased to 5,000 cfs. The release will remain at 5,000 cfs through Sunday, June 8th. Beginning on Monday, June 9th, the release will begin to be gradually decreased until it reaches 500 cfs on Friday, June 27th.
At various times throughout the spring peak release, the release will be temporarily reduced in order to accommodate required inspections of the outlet works. These inspections are tentatively planned to occur on May 29th, the week of June 9th, and on June 26th. Additional notices will be provided in advance of each of these inspections.
Adjustments may be made to the spring peak release duration if the inflow forecasts change. Reclamation will provide updates to the release schedule if any changes occur.
The snowpack as of May 6th for the upper San Juan River basin is averaging 117 percent. The Animas River basin snowpack currently stands at 104 percent of average. Unregulated inflow into Navajo Reservoir during the month of April was 242,000 acre-feet, or 143 percent of average. Currently, the daily reservoir inflow is averaging about 3,000 cfs while reservoir releases are set at 2200 cfs. NIIP started diversions on March 7th, which are currently set at 400 cfs. The reservoir water surface elevation is currently 66061.59 feet, which corresponds to a storage content of about 1,368,000 acre-feet To view the most current reservoir elevation, content, inflow and release, click on: Navajo Reservoir Data.
A public meeting on Navajo Reservoir operations was held on Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. in Farmington, New Mexico. Reservoir operations over last fall and winter were reviewed, and plans for next spring and summer 2008 operations were discussed. These are open forum discussions on the operation of Navajo Reservoir with many interested groups participating. Anyone interested in the general operation of the reservoir is encouraged to attend. Please contact Pat Page in Reclamation's Durango, Colorado Office at (970) 385-6560 for information about these meetings or the daily operation of Navajo Reservoir. To view minutes from the last Navajo Operations Meeting, click on: Meeting Notes.
Paul Davidson
May 6, 2008
Email comments/inquires to: ResourceMgr@uc.usbr.gov