South Platte Weekend Flow Update

[Caspian]

Denver Water will be relaying info about NF and probably SF projected flows again this year. I'll be using this thread for the rest of the season to post the most recent beta. Flow projections are estimated and not guaranteed, but have proven generally accurate in the past.

For this weekend...

"I cut the Roberts Tunnel today to 100 cfs. I plan to keep it at 100 cfs over the weekend. I may shut it off next week if the warm weather predicted for the next several days finally melts some snow. I will probably cut Cheesman outflow to around 200 – 250 for the weekend. As always, this is all open to change and based on the very unpredictable weather we have been having so far."

This means Bailey is likely to be runnable, but probably in the bone zone (160-170) based on recent natural runoff, unless the warm weather generates some more water.

[jhyatt]

do you think denver water will keep flows out of the roberts tunnel down until runoff is over

[Caspian]

The general pattern is that there is less water released when natural water (from any source) is making its way to the Front Range reservoirs. So, yes, less water during runoff, but it's somewhat beside the point because runoff is everywhere and the Tunnel only feeds Bailey, Foxton and Waterton. As runoff tapers, the releases tend to increase - but there is a great snowpack this year, so the NF will not have the best season. Historically, the best NF seasons are during drought when there is no other source of water for Denver.

[Caspian]

Forecast for this weekend...

"The tunnel should be in the 100 – 200 cfs range over the coming weekend. Cheesman should be around 200 cfs. Still waiting for the snow to melt!"

[Caspian]

NFSP flows from DWB for this weekend

"We will continue to run the tunnel hard over the weekend – I expect around 400 cfs each day. The runoff finally seems to be picking up, so I may not need these high tunnel flows much longer."