While it has been speculated for some time, the official McPhee Reservoir Operating Plan released May 1 made it official – McPhee Reservoir won’t fill this year.
In fact, the forecast for the year shows the lake will be about 40 feet shy of the full line.
When full, the lake reaches an elevation of 6,924 feet. The reservoir, according to the forecast, will be 40 feet shy, at 6,884.
While the storms this week have been helpful, Ken Curtis with the Dolores Water Conservancy District said they haven’t changed the forecast.
And because the reservoir won’t fill, there will be no controlled release downstream, which means rafters won’t get to run this world-class stretch of river.
Curtis also said those north of the Montezuma Valley Irrigation district, such as Dove Creek and Yellow Jacket, will likely only get about 40 percent of their allotment of water.
“It will be a truncated season, by about half,” Curtis said.
There are about 140 different family operations affected by the short season, as well as irrigators in Dove Creek.
“The whole town of Dove Creek gets a shortened season,” Curtis said.
But it doesn’t hurt to hope for more rain.
“The storms were helpful, but it is hard to put a specific number of them,” Curtis said. “The storms were good, but until you see tho whole month of moisture, it could dry out. If it stays in this pattern, (the outlook) could improve a little.”
But, the warm temperatures meant that the recent snow and rain went into the ground, not into the river.
“The only place, however we have snow is up high,” Curtis said.
Those in Dolores won’t likely see the reservoir get to the bridge.
“We won’t see it creep around the corner much,” Curtis said.
Meanwhile, rafters and kayakers have been enjoying an increased river flow on the upper Dolores.