North Platte River water operations and deliveries are expected to be normal for the 2017 growing season with an expected demand of 1.1 million acre-feet, according to a US Bureau of Reclamation forecast presented at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff April 19.

Total North Platte River system storage in the Wyoming reservoirs as of April 1 was 2.4 million acre-feet of water. As of April 16, the  expected/forecasted runoff (snowmelt) for the reservoirs above Glendo reservoir was 935,000 acre-feet of water. Snowpack, relative to normal levels, was listed as

• Upper Platte basin — 89%,
• Sweetwater basin  —  185%,
• Lower Platte basin  —  74%, and
• Laramie River basin  —  83%. 

The Bureau also reported the main spillway gate maintenance at Guernsey dam is completed and operational.  Water is currently being moved down the system from Glendo reservoir to help offset any flooding on the North Platte River. 

The next Bureau of Reclamation update will be in the fall of 2017 in Torrington, Wy.  

For more information on the North Platte River Surface Irrigation Projects and Power Generation, view the slideshare presentation on the UNL Panhandle Research and Extension web page at http://panhandle.unl.edu/ .  Bureau of Reclamation water operations information can be found at their web site http://www.usbr.gov/gp/wyao/index.html .