March 13, 2023 |
Photo – Seminoe Dam – Bigfoot99 file photo
The Bureau of Reclamation announced Friday that it will not issue a call on water users in the Upper North Platte River valley this year. New flood forecasting from the Bureau of Reclamation indicate that spring snowmelt runoff will be above average. The Bureau of Rec is forecasting runoff in the North Platte River Basin above Glendo Dam between April and July to be 120% of the 30-year average, or 1.1-million-acre feet.
The total conservation storage capacity of the North Platte Reservoir System is approximately 2,815,800-acre feet. As of February 28, 2023, the combined storage content in the North Platte Reservoirs was 1.2 million acre feet which is 76% of the 30-year average.
Current releases are 530 cubic feet per second (cfs) from Seminoe Reservoir through the Miracle Mile. Based on current projections for the months of May, June, and July, the releases out of Seminoe Reservoir are expected to peak at around 2,600 cfs, or five times the amount now.
Pathfinder Reservoir is not expected to spill this spring. Based on the current forecast, an allocation is not expected for the Bureau of Reclamation’s North Platte Project contractors downstream.
The Bureau of Reclamation’s Wyoming Area Office operates seven reservoirs on the North Platte River with Seminoe Reservoir farthest upstream and Guernsey Reservoir farthest downstream. This system provides irrigation supply to hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland and produces power generation from 6 powerplants which supply power to tens of thousands of homes.
