Wednesday, April 15, 2026 |
Photo – North Platte River – Bigfoot99 file photo
The Bureau of Reclamation’s April forecast shows that spring water runoff from mountain snowmelt in the North Platte River Basin above Glendo Dam is expected to be well below average this year.
Snowpack is well below average and the Upper North Platte Basin is in severe drought here in Carbon County. From April through July, total runoff is expected to reach approximately 140,000 acre-feet, which is 15% of the 30-year average.
The total conservation storage capacity of the North Platte Reservoir System is approximately 2,815,800 acre-feet. As of March 31, 2026, the combined storage content in the North Platte reservoirs was 1,193,080 acre-feet, which is 67% of the 30-year average. Seminoe and Pathfinder reservoir levels are expected to remain very low.
Releases from Seminoe Reservoir, where a Utah developer wants to build a diversionary water project, are expected to remain at 530 cubic feet per second beginning now and continuing through this summer.
The Pathfinder Reservoir is not expected to spill this spring.
Reclamation’s Wyoming Area Office operates seven reservoirs on the North Platte River with Seminoe Reservoir farthest upstream and Guernsey Reservoir farthest downstream.
