Well, it has begun! For readers who have been following this blog awhile you’ll know that I love the “spring runoff” guessing games. This could be attributed to the seven years I spent as a tour guide at Glen Canyon Dam, or the simple fact I see the lake everyday. Either way, this is an awesome time of year with not only the temperature rising, but Lake Powell as well. (we could do without the no-see-ums however)
The Bureau of Reclamation did not release a water report the middle of April, which they usually do. This year was rather odd as some of the snow pack started melting off in February, but then a very wet, and cool, late March and early April actually saw an increase in snow pack.
Lake Powell hit the low point for the year on April 17th at 3609.7o feet above sea level, roughly 90 feet below full pool. Saturday to Sunday this week saw the biggest vertical increase, which was 2.64 inches in 24 hours.
Spring runoff typically starts slow and then ramps up nearing the end of June.
From now until the middle of July Lake Powell should see an increase of 30 vertical feet of water, ending with the lake @ 3640 feet above sea level and 60 feet below full pool.
When full, Lake Powell holds 27 million acre feet of water ( an acre foot is 325,861 gallons, an acre of land with a foot of water on it, or roughly enough water for a family of four for a year). At full pool Lake Powell is 560 feet deep at Glen Canyon Dam. If all goes according to predictions, the lake will be 500 feet deep at the dam by the middle of July.
Oh yes, the Castle Rock Cut is open for small boat traffic with 2.5 feet of water in it.
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