Due to recent rainstorms and lower than expected water demand in southern California and Arizona, the Bureau of Reclamation is temporarily reducing water releases from Davis Dam, north of Laughlin, Nevada, on the lower Colorado River. The lower releases are necessary to maintain a safe water surface elevation at Lake Havasu.
Beginning Friday, Feb. 2, hourly releases from Davis Dam, will be reduced to approximately 2,300 cubic feet per second. These lower releases are scheduled from midnight through 8 a.m. Mountain Standard Time (MST) but may be extended depending on existing system conditions.
The lower overnight flows will likely continue through Feb. 5 but may continue an additional week or longer depending on system conditions.
Due to the existing drought conditions in the Colorado River Basin, Reclamation is attempting to conserve as much water as possible in the river’s storage system. The temporary reduction in releases at Davis Dam will help reduce the risk of excess water releases out of Parker Dam, which would result in the loss of valuable system storage.
Daily and hourly information on releases from Reclamation’s Colorado River dams is available on Reclamation’s web site, at https://www.usbr.gov/lc/riverops.html.
Davis Dam and Parker Dam projected water release schedules can be found at https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/hourly/DavisParkerSchedules.pdf.
