Lake Powell, Colorado River Spring Runoff Part 2

The last numbers have been posted prior to Lake Powell's annual elevation rise. The National Weather Service and the Bureau of Reclamation are predicting Lake Powell will see a 50 vertical foot rise in elevation from now until around July 4th when it peaks. When full Lake Powell has 1960 miles of shore line, so trying to imagine what a 50 foot wall of water around that looks like can be daunting.

With the drought that has been ongoing most of the last 8 years, this is great news!

Lake Powell is the savings account of water, while Lake Mead downstream, is the checking account. Both accounts have been pretty low the last several years. Lake Mead is currently at 50% of storage capacity while Lake Powell is at 45%.

As of April 7, 2008 snowpack conditions above Lake Powell are at 116% of normal. Snowpack levels on average, peak around April 10th so 116% seems like a good call for the overall forecast.

Unregulated infow into Lake Powell is projected to be 122% of average - which with currernt elevations equals about a 50 foot rise. It can be difficult to call "exactly" how much water will eventaully make it to Lake Powell out of the Colorado River system but this year conditions seem right for a good runoff. Spring has not been overly hot and dry and the ground underneath the snowpack is well saturated meaning more water will have a chance to make it downstream.

Lake Powell is expected to peak around the first of July at 3639, or about 41 feet from full. This is the highest the lake has been since 2002.

While the drought has been harsh the water storage system has worked for the west. Water deliveries have still been made down stream. Even tho Lake Powell has seen a elevation drop, folks in the lower basin states of CA, AZ and NV as well as Mexico still saw their legal allotment of Colorado River water delivered. Power generation at the dam has slowed down with the lower water levels, but recreation and the multi-million dollar industry it has become to the Page, Lake Powell area has not.

PHOTO:

In this photo, taken on 4-15-2008, the "bathtub" ring around Lake Powell can clearly be seen. The water line is a calcium carbonate deposit left on the rocks by the hard water of the Colorado River. The line is @ 110 feet tall. 50 feet of that will be covered by July 1st with Water!

For more information see Lake Powell Real Estate Blog