News Release Archive

Rain in Lower Colorado River Basin Forces Cutback in Releases From Davis and Parker Dams

Media Contact: Bob Walsh, 702.293.8421, rwalsh@lc.usbr.gov

For Release: November 23, 2004

The storms in southern California and Arizona early this week have caused a temporary reduction in the amount of water being released from both Davis and Parker Dams on the lower Colorado River.

At Davis Dam, north of Laughlin, Nev., releases were reduced to approximately 4,600 cubic feet per second (cfs) on Monday afternoon. This action was taken because the high inflow into Lake Havasu from the Bill Williams River south of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., means less water is needed from Davis Dam to maintain Lake Havasu levels. Heavy rains in western Arizona caused the reservoir behind Alamo Dam, a Corps of Engineers facility on the Bill Williams River, to rise quickly on Monday, November 22. The Corps was required to increase water releases from Alamo Dam to a current level of about 5,300 cfs to stay within its flood control regulations. These high releases are expected to continue until the Alamo reservoir drops to elevation 1125 feet above mean sea level. Currently, the reservoir is more than seven feet above that level.

Reclamation is currently projecting that releases from Davis Dam will be 4,600 cfs between 5:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. MST, and approximately 2,300 cfs from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. MST, through at least Friday, November 26.

At Parker Dam, 15 miles north of Parker, Ariz., water releases were reduced to approximately 2,600 cfs on Monday, November 22.

This reduction was made because Colorado River users in southern Arizona and southern California cut back their water orders because they do not currently need their normal amount of Colorado River water.

Because of the drought conditions on the Colorado River, Reclamation is attempting to conserve as much water in the river's storage system as possible. The temporary reduction in releases at Davis and Parker Dams will help accomplish this by reducing the potential for water releases in excess of downstream orders.

Daily and hourly information on releases from Reclamation's Colorado River dams is available on Reclamation's web site, at http://www.usbr.gov/lc/rivops.html.

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