As of April 4th, 2011 Lake McConaughy is currently at 3255.7 feet or 92.4% max capacity, which the max elevation level is 3265 feet. With higher than expected snow pack runoffs and near record level inflows this time of year the lake is expected to reach max capacity in the coming months. Below is some notes taken from the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District board meeting held on April 1st.
“Current snowpack accumulations in the upper North Platte Basin (above Seminoe Reservoir) are 140 percent of average and 115 percent of average in the lower basin (between Alcova and Glendo reservoirs). Projections for runoff from the snowpack during the April-July period exceed 1.4 million acre-feet of water, while the 30-year average runoff is 714,000 acre-feet. Last year’s total runoff in the basin was 1.2 million acre-feet. Inflows this year at the Wyoming reservoirs will likely rank among the top five highest on record.”
“We’re trying to move about 400,000 acre-feet out of the system in during March and April, which is going to result in high flows along the North Platte River,”
“At Lake McConaughy, Central has been releasing higher than normal flows for this time of year to make room for the expected inflows. Civil Engineer Cory Steinke said the lake is at elevation 3255.4 as of Friday, less than five feet from the maximum storage level permitted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) prior to April 25. The elevation restrictions begin to gradually increase after April 25 to a maximum elevation of 3265.0 feet.”
“Central has petitioned the FERC for permission to temporarily exceed the normal allowed maximum storage elevations, but such permission has not yet been received.”
Source: http://www.cnppid.com/News_Releases/2011-04-01_boardmeeting.htm
Use the address above to read the board meeting notes.
