Water Year 2018 3rd-Driest On Record For Colorado; Inflow To Powell @ 4.62 MAF 44% Of Historic Avg.
Colorado water managers are saying good riddance to water year 2018. It enters the history books alongside 2002 and 1977 as one of the driest on record for the Upper Colorado River Basin.
According to preliminary numbers from the Bureau of Reclamation, water year 2018, which ended Sept. 30, had the third-lowest unregulated inflow into Lake Powell at 4.62 million acre-feet. That's just 43 percent of average.
Only 1977 and 2002 saw less water flow into Lake Powell from the upper basin, at 3.53 million acre-feet and 2.64 million acre-feet, respectively. The average yearly inflow is 10.8 million acre-feet. The months of August and September 2018 were the third- and fourth-worst months for unregulated inflows into Lake Powell behind only July and August of 2002.
The unregulated flow in August was just 2 percent of average. Lake Powell is currently 46 percent full. "We know if we have another drought, the risk of draining Lake Powell is real," said Jim Pokrandt, director of community affairs for the Colorado River Water Conservation District and chairman of the Colorado Basin Roundtable. "If we have another year as bad as this one, you're going to see lots of discussions about who's going to take reductions. We really need three, four, several years of average or above-average snow years to get us out of this pickle."
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https://www.summitdaily.com/news/colorados-2018-water-year-closes-one-of-driest-on-record/