Boulder City, Nev. - Recent rainstorms throughout the lower Colorado River corridor have caused reductions in the amount of water the Bureau of Reclamation has been releasing from Davis and Parker dams.
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 into next week.
Hourly releases at Davis Dam, north of Laughlin, Nevada, will be reduced to approximately 3,400 cfs beginning at 8:00 PM PDT on March 13 and may be reduced as low as 2,100 cfs. The lowest flows are expected to occur during the late-night and early-morning hours; however, should hydrologic conditions change, the low flows may be extended throughout the day. These operations may continue through Friday, March 20. 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 and Parker dams will help reduce the risk of excess water releases, 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.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
