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2019 Dolores River Thread

45K views 185 replies 64 participants last post by  wack 
#1 ·
Well, to early to tell shit probably, but since I am incorrigible and it is snowing...

Looks like El Diente and Lizard Head are at 114 and 132% snow water equivalent, respectively. From what I could tell looking at the DWC website, Mcphee is about 72' bellow Maximum Elevation. I don't believe they are able to fill it to absolute max elevation before being forced to let some out?
Please correct me if I missed any important snow sites, or if I got them wrong, to!

Long ways out I spose, may be tears and frustration again, as is often the case, but feel free to prognosticate, discuss, get your wheels turning, Etc.
Where there is water, there is life, and where there is life, there is hope...

Hope you're not to overtaken by cabin fever and winter time blues, and may there be hope for Our Lady of Sorrow in 2019.

Cheers! :grin:

Matt Man
 
#2 ·
Dude, you must be bored as you have been posting alot. Glad you had a good trip on the grand. Mother D is 50/50 at this time as far as I am concerned but if we continue to get snow it could happen. If it happens I will be there. Love the Dolores. Billy Crack is heading out on the grand in a couple of weeks. Planned for 30 days, 3 peeps two boats, sounds sketchy for 60 year old folks like me. I would go with but am recovering from a broken foot. They have room for another boat if you know anyone who would be up for it.
 
#3 ·
There's also a bit of runoff from the South into the Dolores between Lizard Head and Stoner from the North Side of the Babcock Peak massif. The Snotel Site for that is Sharkstooth.


The site shows the median for that at 78%


That peaks later than El Diente, which peaks later than Lizard Head. The 1-2-3 punch that keeps that run going a long time.
 
#4 ·
Haha! Ya, guess I have! Think it must be part of my defense mechanism for dealing with regular life again. Definitely something wrong with me, had a month off to go run the greatest river trip I know of, and now all I want to do is go boating again, when I really should be buckling down harder, and working my but off. Just don't want "fake life" anymore!

Awesome, awesome trip, with a huge thank you to Evercat for inviting me!!! Out of the Grand till 2020 now, per GCNPS regulations, hope Billy has a great trip though, and I'll keep it in mind if I think of anyone.

Sorry to hear about the broken foot James, hope you heal up soon!
It'll be spring run off and summer before we know it, fingers crossed that she goes this year!
 
#8 ·
There is exactly a 0% chance that McPhee will spill this year, unless we have a miracle spring that bumps us to about 200% of average. Our ground water is severely diminished after last year and the reservoir is very low. Below the San Miguel will run, but not the middle stretches.
 
#10 ·
Well, not enough yet to fill that gaping hole they got up there at Mcphee, but I was happy to find El Diente at 145, Lizard Head at 123, and Sharkstooth hanging in there at 94%, this morning. So we at least got some snow up there, and water for the upper D, plus good snow pack for the San Miguel, so bellow the confluence should be running.
For the San Miguel, Dolores, Animas, and San Juan Basins, we are at 114%, with only 2 sites reporting under 100%, 3 sites are not reporting.

Things are looking up for the southern mountains! About time those folks got a little moisture down there :D
 
#11 ·
Never have actually run the Dolores above the Dam, would like to get up there some time, bet it will be kicking this year! If anybody wants a rafter do drag along, let me know! :)

Run Gateway down several times, and I really enjoy that section. State line seems to get longer by the year, with the debris flows, bought 3 miles of class 4 and 3, now. Always seems to give fellow GC and Cat boaters some hesitation, sure do enjoy it out there, though! Let me know if somebody wants to go run Gateway! So far skunked on permits this year, still waiting on Idaho results....
 
#12 ·
Yesterday the Durango Herald had an article which said that 135% of normal will fill the reservoirs but they were talking Vallecito and Lemon. Supposedly going to get another two feet between tonight and Tuesday and another big storm heading to next weekend. I'll bet 200% will make Mcphee spill. Could happen.
 
#14 ·
The DWCD could not predict if a dropped rock would hit the ground anytime soon. That lake is not THAT big. I recall the same scenario happening a few years back. No chance of a spill they posted, so we brought class three canoes hoping for 100 CFS. The next morning we woke to 4000CFS, perfect for a raft. We launched knowing Snaggletooth would be a drag around but managed all others with strategic sneaks in our overwhelmed craft. Was a classic adventure regardless and we had the river to ourselves. Poke a hole in that dam! Of all the ones needing decommissioned, that's #1.
 
#20 ·
Will be crossing my fingers for a good wet summer. Hopefully we can keep water in that thing, and then some going down the river, instead of irrigating so much. Maybe that wet glop down there will just saturate some fields early season?

Hope for the best, at least things are improving! :)
 
#22 ·
Yeah , both my neighbors are on the dwcd board & apparently they are trying to leave water in the reservoir to irrigate for the following year instead of draining it and leaving little for the next year , so that actually bodes well for us rafters as it will stay at a higher level from now on ! 🙏
 
#25 ·
2.6% per weekend, that's it?? Geez those farmers and water managers sure a selfish lot. Seems like our tax dollars went into the construction of the dam and all the infrastructure tied to it. Our tax dollars continue to be spent on maintaining the dam and infrastructure. Seems to me that those conservative folks on the DRWC board and the farmers that benefit from the operation of the dam and infrastructure are "gasp" being subsidized by the government they they loudly proclaim to not need. Hmm.
 
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