From the Colorado River District:
Date, times and places for ALL Public Meetings
What are the State of the River Meetings?
Each spring, during snowmelt runoff, the River District organizes informational “State of the River” meetings across parts of the Western Slope of Colorado to help educate the public and water users. Meeting speakers offer up-to-date information on snowpack figures, water supply forecasts and anticipated stream flows and upcoming conditions.
Specifically, reservoir operators and climate profession will discuss the amount of water expected to flow into the local reservoirs due to melting snow and will forecast how conditions may affect the rise and fall of reservoir levels and the amounts and timing of water to be released to the rivers over the upcoming season.
Here’s the release for the May 4, 2017 meeting in Silverthorne:
Top researcher on rising temperatures speaking at Summit State of the River meeting
Brad Udall, renowned climate researcher with the Colorado Water Institute at Colorado State University, will keynote the Summit State of the River meeting set for 6 p.m., Thursday, May 4, 2017, at the Silverthorne Pavilion. Bureau of Reclamation and Denver Water officials will discuss reservoir operations at Green Mountain and Dillon.
Learn about the health of the snowpack and what it forecasts for river flows and reservoir operations at the 24th annual Summit State of the River meeting set for 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, May 4 at the Silverthorne Pavilion. This free, public event is sponsored by the Blue River Watershed Group and the Colorado River District. Finger-food and refreshments will be served.
The special guest keynote speaker will be Brad Udall of the Colorado Water Institute at Colorado State University, who recently co-authored a study that describes how rising temperatures are as villainous in reduced Colorado River flows as the drought itself between 2000 and 2014.
In this time period, flows averaged 19 percent below the 1906-1999 average, the worst 15-year drought on record. At least one-sixth to one-half of this loss is due to unprecedented temperatures (0.9°C above the 1906-99 average). This confirms model-based analyses that continued warming will likely further reduce flows, according to the paper.
Another top speaker is Colorado River District General Manager Eric Kuhn, who is retiring next year. Kuhn has been a leader in the Colorado River Basin in cautioning that low reservoir levels at Lake Powell threaten dire consequences for the entire basin unless water management policies change.
Summit County Water Commissioner Troy Wineland will discuss local water supply and streamflow predictions. Also, officials from the Bureau of Reclamation and Denver Water will be on hand to detail operations this year at Green Mountain and Dillon Reservoirs, two key water bodies in Summit County.
For more information, contact Water Commissioner Troy Wineland at 970-355-4516 or Jim Pokrandt of the Colorado River District at 970-945-8522.