What a crazy, wet spring and summer we have had in Northern Colorado. It has been a long time since you needed a jacket on the Fourth of July and June truly was a month for the record books for precipitation.
Measurable precipitation totals from around the District according to the Colorado Climate Center at CSU since January 1 to August 7 were Greeley at 18.51”; Kersey; 17.06”; Fort Morgan 19.96”; Milliken 17.06”; Hudson 15.78”; Brighton 15.78” and 17.17” at Denver International Airport. The average rainfall in the Front Range is 8 to 15 inches for the entire year.
Central storage levels were looking bleak back in March and April after an average snowfall last winter. As of April 18, 2023, GMS and WAS combined reservoirs were at 18% of capacity. As of July 2023, that number jumped to 84% of capacity. (Both percentages reflect that the Bernhardt Reservoir, near Milliken, was at 0% because of construction.) Seven out of twelve reservoirs were at 100% capacity. The South Platte River saw 64 days of “free river “. A term used when there are no demands on the river.
Central’s Board of Directors keep a close eye on things like snowpack and precipitation levels. The Directors with help from our District Engineer, Billy Mihelich, and Evan McCurnin, the Water Resource Analysist, must decide at the mid-March Board meeting what the upcoming seasons quota for pumping will be. At the March meeting quotas were set at 35% for GMS and 50% for WAS. At the may Board meeting quotas were raised to 47% and 60% and at the July 15, 2023 meeting the Board of Director’s increased the quota to 60% GMS and WAS 70%.
Article by Randy Ray, Executive Director