Water precip for Colorado River Basin at 100 percent

Outflow not expected to increase

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The water year precipitation for the Colorado River Basin from Oct. 1, 2016 to May 31 was 100 to 110 percent of average, reported the Colorado River Forecast Center on Tuesday. Most of that precipitation came in the form of snow, which is now melting and flowing into Lake Powell at a rate of 46,880 cubic feet per second, or 80,000 acre feet a day. The Glen Canyon Dam is currently releasing 25,000 acre feet per day.
Lake Powell reached its lowest elevation of the year on March 15 at an elevation of 3,593 feet. It’s currently at 3,622 feet. The Bureau of Reclamation estimates Lake Powell will peak out at 3,638 feet.

Under the requirements of the 1922 Colorado River Compact, a minimum of 8.23 million acre feet per year must flow past Lee’s Ferry, which is the dividing line between the upper Colorado River Basin and the lower Colorado River Basin.
From 2000 to 2016, the Glen Canyon Dam has released an average of 8.71 million acre feet per year. In 2015 and 2016, the dam released 9 million acre feet per year and will do so again in 2017.    
This past December, January and February were considerably wetter than average with the Colorado River Basin receiving 140 to 160 percent of average snowfall, which prompted the bureau to consider releasing even more than 9 million acre feet in an effort to help equalize Lake Mead, said Marlon Duke, public affairs officer with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
But since March, the precipitation in the Colorado River Basin has remained low and the BOR decided to maintain its outflow from Glen Canyon Dam at 9 million acre feet.