H20Advantage
09-25-2006, 06:07 AM
Havaasu Lake levels normal
BY DAVID BELL
Sunday, September 24, 2006 10:45 PM MDT
Boaters may be seeing a bit less lake and a little more shoreline these days.
That's normal for the season, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The agency that regulates the flow of water in the Colorado River is projecting a drop in Lake Havasu's water level of nearly 2 feet this month.
“Around this time of year we don't have high temperatures that require a quick response with water. And a lot of crops are being harvested, so we don't have large downriver agricultural demand,” said Colleen Dwyer with the Bureau of Reclamation's Public Affairs Department.
Lake Havasu began the month at an elevation of 448.27 feet above sea level. Starting this week the lake level is projected at 446.1 feet dropping to a low of 445.9 feet by Wednesday and then making a slow climb back up to 446.3 feet.
Through October, the bureau projects the lake elevation to be between 445.4 feet and 445.9 feet above sea level.
“Those are predictions we put out on Friday for the week ahead,” said Dwyer. “If something comes up, like rainfall in southern California, sometimes those orders are canceled.”
The water will remain in Lake Mead until demand begins to pick up again. According to Dwyer, that will be when the weather begins to warm up in the spring.
Lake Havasu has a maximum water level of 450 feet and minimum of 445 feet above sea level. That relatively small difference in elevations is because Lake Havasu is the reservoir and diversion point for two major water users: the Central Arizona Project (CAP) and the Metropolitan Water District (MWD).
CAP provides drinking water to more than 2.7 million people in Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa and Scottsdale as well as 12 Native American tribes. CAP also provides water for agricultural irrigation and mining.
MWD provides drinking water for about 18 million people in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura counties in southern California. Agricultural uses are also included in the MWD draw.
The two water users combined to pull more than 1.35 million acre feet of water out of Lake Havasu in 2005.
On the Web at http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/hourly/rivops.html
BY DAVID BELL
Sunday, September 24, 2006 10:45 PM MDT
Boaters may be seeing a bit less lake and a little more shoreline these days.
That's normal for the season, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The agency that regulates the flow of water in the Colorado River is projecting a drop in Lake Havasu's water level of nearly 2 feet this month.
“Around this time of year we don't have high temperatures that require a quick response with water. And a lot of crops are being harvested, so we don't have large downriver agricultural demand,” said Colleen Dwyer with the Bureau of Reclamation's Public Affairs Department.
Lake Havasu began the month at an elevation of 448.27 feet above sea level. Starting this week the lake level is projected at 446.1 feet dropping to a low of 445.9 feet by Wednesday and then making a slow climb back up to 446.3 feet.
Through October, the bureau projects the lake elevation to be between 445.4 feet and 445.9 feet above sea level.
“Those are predictions we put out on Friday for the week ahead,” said Dwyer. “If something comes up, like rainfall in southern California, sometimes those orders are canceled.”
The water will remain in Lake Mead until demand begins to pick up again. According to Dwyer, that will be when the weather begins to warm up in the spring.
Lake Havasu has a maximum water level of 450 feet and minimum of 445 feet above sea level. That relatively small difference in elevations is because Lake Havasu is the reservoir and diversion point for two major water users: the Central Arizona Project (CAP) and the Metropolitan Water District (MWD).
CAP provides drinking water to more than 2.7 million people in Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa and Scottsdale as well as 12 Native American tribes. CAP also provides water for agricultural irrigation and mining.
MWD provides drinking water for about 18 million people in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura counties in southern California. Agricultural uses are also included in the MWD draw.
The two water users combined to pull more than 1.35 million acre feet of water out of Lake Havasu in 2005.
On the Web at http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/hourly/rivops.html