Beginning at 8 a.m. Friday, outflow from Lake Granby will increase by 50 cfs every two hours until outflow reaches 430 cfs in the late afternoon.
The flow of 430 cfs will be maintained indefinitely. It is the maximum that operators can release out of the valves that sit toward the bottom of Granby. If more water needs to be released, it will come down the spillway at the top of the reservoir, but only after the reservoir rises to the spillway's elevation.
The Colorado Basin River Forecast Center is predicting inflow to Lake Granby to be the largest on record. Northern Water's models agree.
2011 RUNOFF UPDATE
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
News coverage: April 13 meeting, water year
The Sky-Hi Daily News ran an article about government agencies' preparation for the 2011 runoff season. Check out the article to learn more about what's going on the Grand County area.
The article mentions our April 13 meeting in Granby, which we highly encourage you to attend if you're interested in the forecast and related project operations. It's at 6 p.m. at the Granby Library, 55 Zero Street.
The article mentions our April 13 meeting in Granby, which we highly encourage you to attend if you're interested in the forecast and related project operations. It's at 6 p.m. at the Granby Library, 55 Zero Street.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Releases from Willow Creek Reservoir going up
Inflows to Willow Creek Reservoir are on the rise, which means runoff is underway. Reservoir operators determined that we need more empty space in the reservoir to capture and dampen the peaking flows.
To do this, operators started increasing releases out of Willow Creek Reservoir today, and by later this afternoon they will be at 230 cfs. They will continue increasing releases tomorrow until they reach a rate of 330 cfs.
Plans are to lower the reservoir, which is at 8,117 feet in elevation now, to 8,092 feet.
To do this, operators started increasing releases out of Willow Creek Reservoir today, and by later this afternoon they will be at 230 cfs. They will continue increasing releases tomorrow until they reach a rate of 330 cfs.
Plans are to lower the reservoir, which is at 8,117 feet in elevation now, to 8,092 feet.
Join us: Runoff season meeting April 13 in Granby
Want to learn more about the 2011 runoff season? Join Northern Water and Reclamation at a public meeting, 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 13 at the Granby Library, 55 Zero Street, in the Community Meeting Room.
We'll share forecasted runoff and streamflows for spring and summer, along with potential operational changes to the Colorado-Big Thompson and other projects. We'll also answer questions you may have about what to expect this season.
Although inflows are a moving target, we will be working to provide the public with as much information as we can, as soon as we can, during this meeting and throughout the season.
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| Granby Library, from gcld.org |
Although inflows are a moving target, we will be working to provide the public with as much information as we can, as soon as we can, during this meeting and throughout the season.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Lake Granby releases increase starting tonight
The April 1 forecasts (the latest available) are indicating a greater inflow to Lake Granby this year than forecasters previously expected. Accordingly, operators are going to make a pre-emptive release of stored water in Lake Granby. Pre-emptive releases help operators balance inflows into a reservoir with the flows going out, and they can curb the need to ramp up releases at faster rates.
Outflow from the reservoir will increase from the current 20 cfs to 80 cfs this evening. Additional increases are scheduled through this week until a rate of 200 cfs is reached; that rate will continue until further notice.
Outflow from the reservoir will increase from the current 20 cfs to 80 cfs this evening. Additional increases are scheduled through this week until a rate of 200 cfs is reached; that rate will continue until further notice.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
It could be an epic year
Northern Water published its April streamflow forecast today. We expect the flows to be even higher than what we projected a month ago - so high that some of us are using words like "epic" to describe the West Slope snowpack.
Many of our forecasting tools are struggling because of a lack of a key type of data: comparable years. Our forecasters look at similar water years to estimate what kind of runoff to expect, and for many of the basins Northern Water monitors, we have less than a handful of "comparables" available to analyze.
For example, Willow Creek only has one year on SNOTEL record that compares to this year: 1986. That year the seasonal runoff (April through July) on Willow Creek was 85,600 acre feet - 170 percent of average. This year we're not far behind with an anticipated runoff that's 160 percent of average.
The Colorado River Basin Forecast Center has a nice tool for following this year's snowpack and how it matches up to 1986. We're less than an inch away from a record snowpack for Willow Creek ... and the National Weather Service is calling for more snow later this week!
Many of our forecasting tools are struggling because of a lack of a key type of data: comparable years. Our forecasters look at similar water years to estimate what kind of runoff to expect, and for many of the basins Northern Water monitors, we have less than a handful of "comparables" available to analyze.
For example, Willow Creek only has one year on SNOTEL record that compares to this year: 1986. That year the seasonal runoff (April through July) on Willow Creek was 85,600 acre feet - 170 percent of average. This year we're not far behind with an anticipated runoff that's 160 percent of average.
The Colorado River Basin Forecast Center has a nice tool for following this year's snowpack and how it matches up to 1986. We're less than an inch away from a record snowpack for Willow Creek ... and the National Weather Service is calling for more snow later this week!
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