Last Updated: April 30, 2026
Notification - dated 4/30/2026
Starting May 1, 2026, flows from Flaming Gorge Dam will be at full power plant capacity (4,600 cfs).
Starting May 4, 2026, following the full powerplant capacity release, Reclamation will implement a larval trigger study plan release. This will include additional bypass releases (+4,000 cfs), with flows totaling up to 8,600 cfs.
This release plan is subject to change depending on evolving river conditions and weather forecasts.
Those recreating on, working around, or traveling to the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam should monitor river conditions.
View hourly water release schedules for Flaming Gorge Dam by visiting the Colorado River Basin Forecast Center website: GRZU1
Current Status
As of April 5, 2026 (end of day), Flaming Gorge Reservoir pool elevation is 6022.79 feet, which amounts to 82 percent of live storage capacity. Unregulated inflow volume for the month of March is approximately 56,520 acre-feet (af), which is 99% of the average unregulated inflow volume.
The April unregulated inflows into Flaming Gorge for the next three months projects to be below average. April, May, and June forecasted unregulated inflow volumes are 95,000 af (76% of average), 100,000 af (40% of average), and 210,000 af (54% of average), respectively.
Drought Response Actions
Between 660,000 and one million acre-feet of additional water is being delivered from Flaming Gorge Reservoir to Lake Powell through April 2027 to help keep Lake Powell above critical elevations.
When these supplemental releases began, Flaming Gorge Reservoir was approximately 82% full, holding approximately 3.01 maf of water. The increased downstream deliveries are estimated to lower the reservoir’s elevation by roughly 12.5 feet through September 2026.
Reclamation and its partners are working to reduce recreational impacts as much as possible. It is anticipated that all of the boat ramps at Flaming Gorge Reservoir will remain accessible during the 2026 summer season (through September 2026).
Recreationists below Flaming Gorge Dam should review posted information, closely monitor changing conditions, and use extreme caution when recreating in or around the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam. Water will be colder than usual and will run high and swift during periods of elevated releases.
These actions are part of the Drought Response Operations Agreement (DROA), a component of the 2019 Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan for the Upper Colorado River Basin. To read more about the need for 2026-2027 supplemental releases, visit: Reclamation Acts to Protect Colorado River System During Historic Drought.
Reclamation previously implemented DROA operations in 2021 and 2022.
Helpful Links
- To view the most current reservoir elevation, content, inflows and releases, visit: Flaming Gorge Reservoir Data.
- For more information about boat ramp elevations and operability, visit: Flaming Gorge Reservoir 2022 Boat Ramps Survey.
- For information about flows below the dam, visit the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center’s GRZUI Reservoir Outflow Hydropgraph: GRZU1
Please note that the CBRFC data is in Zulu time, which is 6 hours later than Mountain Daylight Time.
For additional Green River flows, see the gage links on the right-hand side of this webpage under ‘Streamflow Data.’
For additional questions, please contact Upper Basin Public Affairs at ucbpao@usbr.gov or (385) 285-6506.
Working Group Meetings
The next Flaming Gorge Working Group meeting is scheduled for TBD, August, 2026. The Flaming Gorge Working Group is an open public forum for information exchange between Reclamation and the stakeholders of Flaming Gorge Dam. The public is encouraged to attend and comment on the operations and plans presented by Reclamation at these meetings. Meeting notes from past Working Group meetings are posted on the Working Group webpage. For more information on this group and these meetings please contact Alex Pivarnik at 385-475-8329.
Past working group meeting summaries can be accessed on the Working Group pages.
