News Release Archive

Rain in Lower Colorado River Basin forces cutback in releases from Davis, Parker dams

Media Contact: Patti Aaron, 702-293-8189, paaron@usbr.gov
Doug Hendrix, 702-293-8391, dhendrix@usbr.gov

For Release: December 03, 2019

Boulder City, Nev. - Recent rain storms in southern California and Arizona have caused reductions in the amount of water the Bureau of Reclamation will be releasing from Davis and Parker dams on the lower Colorado River.

At Parker Dam, north of Parker, Arizona, hourly releases have been reduced to approximately 1,800 cubic feet per second (cfs). This level of release is expected to continue for the next few days and potentially through the weekend.

Hourly releases at Davis Dam, north of Laughlin, Nevada, will be reduced to approximately 2,300 cfs beginning at 12:01 a.m. Mountain Standard Time on December 4 and may continue through December 8. The reduction in releases from Davis Dam is necessary to lower water levels to maintain a safe water surface elevation at Lake Havasu.

Due to the existing drought conditions in the Colorado River Basin, Reclamation is attempting to conserve as much water as possible in the river's storage system. The temporary reduction in releases at Davis Dam will help reduce the risk of excess water releases out of Parker Dam, which would result in the loss of valuable system storage.

Daily and hourly information on releases from Reclamation's Colorado River dams is available on Reclamation's web site, at https://www.usbr.gov/lc/riverops.html. Davis Dam and Parker Dam projected water release schedules can be found at https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/hourly/DavisParkerSchedules.pdf.

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