Outlook good for irrigation season

For the Telegram
Posted 5/17/17

Irrigators in the Platte River Valley can expect a good season this year with above-average runoff expected upstream, according to a release from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

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Outlook good for irrigation season

Posted

MILLS – Irrigators in the Platte River Valley can expect a good season this year with above-average runoff expected upstream, according to a release from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
“We anticipate the North Platte Basin water contractors will have a full water supply this year,” said Carlie Ronca, Wyoming area water manager for the bureau.
Total April through July runoff above Glendo Dam is predicted at 980,000 acre-feet. Some 205,500 a.f. were received in April, according to the report.

The anticipated flow is some 108 percent of the 30-year average for the basin.
Total storage content, as of April 30, in reservoirs along the North Platte River exceeded 2.4 million a.f., some 138 percent of the 30-year average. Total conservation storage capacity of the reservoir system is about 2.8 million a.f.
One acre foot is the amount of water necessary to cover a flat acre of land – an area about the size of a football field – to a depth of one foot, or about 326,000 gallons.
The bureau is currently releasing about 2,000 cubic feet per second from Seminoe Reservoir through the Miracle Mile – a 5.5-mile stretch of the North Platte between Kortes Dam and Pathfinder Reservoir. Gray Reef is currently releasing some 2,500 c.f.s and the outflow of Guernsey Reservoir totals 3,600 c.f.s.
According to current May-July projections, releases from Seminoe are not expected to exceed 3,000 c.f.s, Gray Reef in the range of 2,500-3,000 c.f.s. and Guernsey in the 3,500 to 5,300 c.f.s. range.