Aspinall Unit
Reservoir OperationsCRFS Meeting
November 16, 2010
Aspinall Unit Reservoirs• Blue Mesa Reservoir• Morrow Point Reservoir• Crystal Reservoir
Aspinall UnitSeasonal Operation Goals
• Blue Mesa Reservoir End of December target is 7490.0 ft• Meet the Black Canyon Water Right peak flow during May• Black Canyon of the Gunnison minimum flow is at least 300 cfs• Black Canyon flows to be kept fairly steady outside of peak flow.• Morrow Point and Crystal Reservoirs have drawdown rate
restrictions (i.e. feet/day)• Need to meet flood control needs of storing water in Blue Mesa
Reservoir and to avoid flooding down river in the town of Delta.• Adjust river flows for diversion needs through the Gunnison
Diversion Tunnel.• Meet all state water right needs on the river downstream.• Adjust flows for trout spawning needs in the fall and spring months.• Try to fill Blue Mesa Reservoir each year as much as possible.• Operate for endangered fish species.
10/1
/01
1/7/
02
4/15
/02
7/22
/02
10/2
8/02
2/3/
03
5/12
/03
8/18
/03
11/2
4/03
3/1/
04
6/7/
04
9/13
/04
12/2
0/04
3/28
/05
7/4/
05
10/1
0/05
1/16
/06
4/24
/06
7/31
/06
11/6
/06
2/12
/07
5/21
/07
8/27
/07
12/3
/07
3/10
/08
6/16
/08
9/22
/08
12/2
9/08
4/6/
09
7/13
/09
10/1
9/09
1/25
/10
5/3/
10
8/9/
10
11/1
5/10
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
900,000
Blue Mesa Reservoir
Reservoir Content (AF)
Top of Active Conservation Pool
Water year 2002 record low year
2010 Operations Review
4/1/
08
4/30
/08
5/29
/08
6/27
/08
7/26
/08
8/24
/08
9/22
/08
10/2
1/08
11/1
9/08
12/1
8/08
1/16
/09
2/14
/09
3/15
/09
4/13
/09
5/12
/09
6/10
/09
7/9/
09
8/7/
09
9/5/
09
10/4
/09
11/2
/09
12/1
/09
12/3
0/09
1/28
/10
2/26
/10
3/27
/10
4/25
/10
5/24
/10
6/22
/10
7/21
/10
8/19
/10
9/17
/10
10/1
6/10
11/1
4/10
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
900,000Aspinall Unit Operations
(2008, 2009, 2010)Crystal Total Release,cfs
Unit Unreg Daily Inflow, cfs
Blue Mesa Content, af
2008Apr-Jul Inflow
1.0 MAF (148 %)
2009Apr-Jul Inflow
772 KAF (114 %)
2010Apr-Jul Inflow
494 KAF (73 %)
10/1
/200
9
11/1
/200
9
12/1
/200
9
1/1/
2010
2/1/
2010
3/1/
2010
4/1/
2010
5/1/
2010
6/1/
2010
7/1/
2010
8/1/
2010
9/1/
2010
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
80.00
90.00
100.00
110.00
120.00
130.00
140.00
150.00
Upper Gunnison River Basin Snotel TrackingAggregate of 10 Snotel Sites above Crystal Reservoir
Statistical Average Index Current Year Index WY2010 Comparison Year Index WY2009
Date
Ind
ex
Sn
ow
Wa
ter
Eq
uiv
ele
nt
As of 09/30/2010 with 9 of 10 sites reporting, the basin wide SWE is
percent of average.
Data Provided by the Natural Resource Conservation Service
3883 cfs
May 1 Forecast560 KAF
Actual 24 HR Peak4190 cfs on May 18
4/1
/20
10
0:0
04
/4/2
01
0 0
:00
4/7
/20
10
0:0
04
/10
/20
10
0:0
04
/13
/20
10
0:0
04
/16
/20
10
0:0
04
/19
/20
10
0:0
04
/22
/20
10
0:0
04
/25
/20
10
0:0
04
/28
/20
10
0:0
05
/1/2
01
0 0
:00
5/4
/20
10
0:0
05
/7/2
01
0 0
:00
5/1
0/2
01
0 0
:00
5/1
3/2
01
0 0
:00
5/1
6/2
01
0 0
:00
5/1
9/2
01
0 0
:00
5/2
2/2
01
0 0
:00
5/2
5/2
01
0 0
:00
5/2
8/2
01
0 0
:00
5/3
1/2
01
0 0
:00
6/3
/20
10
0:0
06
/6/2
01
0 0
:00
6/9
/20
10
0:0
06
/12
/20
10
0:0
06
/15
/20
10
0:0
06
/18
/20
10
0:0
06
/21
/20
10
0:0
06
/24
/20
10
0:0
06
/27
/20
10
0:0
06
/30
/20
10
0:0
07
/3/2
01
0 0
:00
7/6
/20
10
0:0
07
/9/2
01
0 0
:00
7/1
2/2
01
0 0
:00
7/1
5/2
01
0 0
:00
7/1
8/2
01
0 0
:00
7/2
1/2
01
0 0
:00
7/2
4/2
01
0 0
:00
7/2
7/2
01
0 0
:00
7/3
0/2
01
0 0
:00
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
7420.00
7430.00
7440.00
7450.00
7460.00
7470.00
7480.00
7490.00
7500.00
7510.00
7520.00
Aspinall 2010 OperationsCrystal ReleaseBlue Mesa inflowBlue Mesa ElevationFill Target
Date
Flo
w (
cfs
)
Time period for daily changes in operations
Spring Peak release for Black Canyon Water Right.
Targeted fill short by 11.18 feet or 65,500 acre-feet.
Jan
-20
10
Fe
b-2
01
0
Ma
r-2
01
0
Ap
r-2
01
0
Ma
y-2
01
0
Jun
-20
10
Jul-
20
10
Au
g-2
01
0
Se
p-2
01
0
Oct
-20
10
No
v-2
01
0
De
c-2
01
0
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
5,500
6,000
6,500
7,000
7,500
8,000
7456.00
7460.00
7464.00
7468.00
7472.00
7476.00
7480.00
7484.00
7488.00
7492.00
7496.00
7500.00
7504.00
7508.00
7512.00
7516.00
7520.00
Blue Mesa Reservoir
Forecasted Inflow
Actual Inflow
Comparative Year Inflow
Ave Unreg Inflow
Projected Elevation
Actual Elevation
Average Elevation
Date
Infl
ow
(c
fs)
Ele
va
tio
n (
Fe
et)
Projections based on 493590 Acre-Feet of April-July runoff
Spring peak for meeting water right
4/27/10 0:00 5/2/10 0:00 5/7/10 0:00 5/12/10 0:00 5/17/10 0:00 5/22/10 0:00 5/27/10 0:00 6/1/10 0:00 6/6/10 0:000
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
Gunnison River below TunnelF
low
in
cfs
4/27/10 0:00 5/2/10 0:00 5/7/10 0:00 5/12/10 0:00 5/17/10 0:00 5/22/10 0:00 5/27/10 0:00 6/1/10 0:00 6/6/10 0:000
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
Gunnison River at Delta
At Delta
Below Tunnel
Flo
w i
n c
fs
Water Year 2010 Projected Operations
Jan
-20
10
Fe
b-2
01
0
Ma
r-2
01
0
Ap
r-2
01
0
Ma
y-2
01
0
Jun
-20
10
Jul-
20
10
Au
g-2
01
0
Se
p-2
01
0
Oct
-20
10
No
v-2
01
0
De
c-2
01
0
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
5,500
6,000
6,500
7,000
7,500
8,000
7456.00
7460.00
7464.00
7468.00
7472.00
7476.00
7480.00
7484.00
7488.00
7492.00
7496.00
7500.00
7504.00
7508.00
7512.00
7516.00
7520.00
Blue Mesa Reservoir
Forecasted Inflow
Actual Inflow
Comparative Year Inflow
Ave Unreg Inflow
Projected Elevation
Actual Elevation
Average Elevation
Date
Infl
ow
(c
fs)
Ele
va
tio
n (
Fe
et)
Projections based on 493590 Acre-Feet of April-July runoffCurrent Projection
End of Dec Target Elevation: 7490.00 feet
Dry fall, below aver-age inflows
Water year 2011 we expect to meet the water right and fill blue Mesa