# Blue river flow update



## Cphilli (Jun 10, 2010)

FYI, had this in my work inbox today and thought some may like to see.



Good afternoon,

Now that *Coordinated Reservoir Operations* is over for the year, Denver Water will reduce outflows from Dillon Reservoir into the Blue River tomorrow from current levels of 1,300 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 1,200 cfs. 

According to our water engineers, inflow to Dillon Reservoir has been running about 1,850 cfs. There remains 26,000 acre feet (one acre foot is the volume of water required to flood one acre of land [660’ X 66’] with one foot of water) of space in the reservoir. We’re hopeful we’ll be able to fill the reservoir before July 1; this output cut will help.

For those of you who love a good chart, have a look below. It shows how snowpack in the basin has fallen off dramatically in the past week.












_Context Corner_
Below are “rule of thumb” flow levels on the Blue River below Dillon Reservoir:

·200-550 cfs: Ideal range for fishing
·400-1,300 cfs: Ideal rafting range
·1,500 cfs: Rafting safety concerns begin
·1,800 cfs and above: Bank overflow in some areas; dependent also on tributary flows


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