Home > GJsentinel.com breaking news > Archives > 2008 > May > 16 > Entry
BuRec forecasts Crystal Dam spill late next week
Hot weather and a near-record snowpack in the upper Gunnison Basin could combine late next week for an uncontrolled spill over Crystal Dam.
It would be first spill at Crystal, the third of the three Aspinall Unit dams on the Gunnison River, since 1997.
“We’re tentatively planning to start ramping up the flows (on the Gunnison River) toward the middle of next week but it all depends on how things change over the weekend,” said Dan Crabtree, lead hydrologist for the Bureau of Reclamation office in Grand Junction.
He said flows in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and the Gunnison Gorge could reach “at least 6,000” cubic feet per second by next weekend.
Friday, the Gunnison River below Crystal Dam was flowing at 3,280 cfs.
The latest runoff forecast from the Bureau of Reclamation increased the predicted flows into Blue Mesa Reservoir by 40,00 acre feet more than previously expected. The new prediction calls for 1.1 million acre feet, 153 percent of the long-term average and virtually assuring some sort of spill over Crystal Dam, perhaps as soon as the middle of next week.
The Bureau’s forecast center also predicted the North Fork of the Gunnison should peak around the May 21, bringing flows at Delta to 11,700 cfs, close to flood stage.
Any increases on the mainstem Gunnison won’t begin until the North Fork flows decrease, Crabtree said, to control the possibility of flooding.
All runoff and flow predictions are tied to the weather. Temperatures in Gunnison this weekend are forecast to be in the mid- to high-70s.
Also, side channel inflows from tributaries including the Cimarron River and the Smith Fork could affect total flows in the Gunnison.
Permalink | | Categories: Breaking_News
