Rio Grande Down 31% on the Week to 177 cfs, 78% Below Normal

The Rio Grande gauge tracked 177 cfs this week, down 31% from last week and 78% below the five-year median per USGS. Elephant Butte Reservoir holds 27,438 af, flat on the week and 73% below the five-year median per the Bureau of Reclamation. Per NIDIS's Aug 20 update, the reservoir stood at 1.4% of capacity with an 82-mile section of the Middle Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico remaining dry.

• Blue Mesa Reservoir (Colorado): 189,745 af, down 7% week over week and 60% below the five-year median per the Bureau of Reclamation.
• Dolores River at Dolores-Colorado: 14 cfs, down 6% on the week and 90% below the five-year median per USGS, the widest below-normal margin of any tracked site this week.
• Colorado drought: 90% of the state in moderate-or-worse drought (D1-D4) per the US Drought Monitor, 54 pts above the five-year median.
• Yuma County (AZ) drought: 100% coverage, 52 pts above the five-year median per the US Drought Monitor.
• Central Valley counties: Fresno, Kern, Kings and Stanislaus all read 0% drought coverage per the US Drought Monitor, ranging from 2 to 99 pts below their five-year medians.

Allocations (standing): CVP north-of-Delta and In-Delta M&I allocations stand at 100% per the Bureau of Reclamation (announced February 2026). The SWP statewide allocation stands at 45% per the Department of Water Resources (announced May 1, 2026). No allocation changes this week.

Data note: Two CVP data series have not updated in over two weeks. Treat figures from those series as stale.