
Touch luck for the boaters on the Dolores River this year, according to the New West. From the article, "It looks like the River of Sorrows is going to live up to its name for hopeful boaters this year. After forecasting as much two weeks of boatable flows for southwest Colorado's Dolores River, the Bureau of Reclamation announced on Tuesday that there likely will be no boating for the entire season.
"It's been an up-and-down year for those anticipating time on the Dolores River. In November, the Bureau predicted that, following last year's relatively wet winter, a snowpack of only 55 percent of average would allow McPhee Reservoir to spill water for boating. The early winter, though, didn't come through, and the outlook turned bad. Then late-winter snows again raised hopes. On the forecast posted on the Dolores Water Conservancy District's website on April 18, it appeared flows would hit near 800 on May 25, and rise to over 1,000 cfs on May 26, lasting through June 9. On the May 3 update, flows through May are projected to peak at a meager 99 cfs, and an only slightly less dim 139 cfs in June.
Over the course of the last month, the snowpack dropped from 89 percent of normal to 20 percent to start May, said Vern Harrell, of the Bureau of Reclamation. In early April, runoff was forecast at 210,000 acre-feet (the average is 320,000 af); but after a dry, warm, windy April, that figure has been scaled down to 180,000 af...
"The bleak boating forecast also isn't going to stop studies being performed by the Dolores River Dialogue. Begun in 2004, the Dialogue brings together various stakeholders in the river to work together to find added flows for fish habitat and commercial and private recreation, while maintaining the regional economies dependent upon the Dolores Project's water.
Among the group's projects, the Dialogue is working on gathering science that will help improve spill management from McPhee Reservoir. The 2005 season provided a golden opportunity for the Dialogue to move forward: Not only did it serve up the first boatable flows in five years, it also saw the largest flows on the river since McPhee first plugged the stream, with peak flow hitting 4,200 cfs.
Following last year's peak runoff, the Dialogue, working with federal, regional, and tribal management agencies, as well as with the Dolores River Coalition, which represents more than 20 groups with vested interests in the river, launched a scientific study of the rare high water. Scientists were able to fly the entire length of the stream below the dam and film of the effects of the spill...
"For everyone else wanting to get on the river for more selfish reasons, it's still too early for absolute despair: The Bureau's latest projections are, of course, just forecasts - and on the Dolores, forecasts can be off as much as 10 percent, says Harrell. Plus, it could still rain or snow. Harrell urges people to keep checking updated predictions at www.doloreswater.com. Forecasts are updated every two weeks, and once a week starting in mid-May."
Category: Colorado Water
10:41:30 AM
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