Rio Grande Surges 233% to 590 cfs, Now 39% Above Normal

The Rio Grande hit 590 cfs this week, up 233% week over week and now 39% above the five-year median, per USGS. The reading reverses weeks of deficit flow including a zero-cfs reading during peak irrigation season. Elephant Butte Reservoir, on the Rio Grande in New Mexico, holds at 27,644 af, 74% below the five-year median and at 1.4% capacity per NIDIS's Aug 20 drought update, the furthest below normal of any tracked site.

• Dolores River: 68 cfs, up 383.7% week over week from 9.8 cfs, per USGS, but still 53% below the five-year median.
• Blue Mesa Reservoir: 173,679 af, down 7% on the week and 62% below the five-year median, per Bureau of Reclamation. NIDIS's Aug 20 drought update noted the reservoir at 26% capacity, describing it as a source of emergency water supply to Lake Powell.
• Colorado drought coverage: 89% of the state in D1 or worse, per the US Drought Monitor, 52 pts above the five-year median. Coverage eased 2 pts on the week.
• Yakima County drought coverage: 75% in D1 or worse, 43 pts above the five-year median, per the US Drought Monitor. No week-over-week change.
• Yuma County drought coverage: 100% in D1 or worse, 52 pts above the five-year median, per the US Drought Monitor. No week-over-week change.

Allocations (standing status): CVP north-of-Delta irrigation, M&I and settlement contractors hold at 100%, as announced by the Bureau of Reclamation on Feb 26. The SWP statewide allocation stands at 45%, last set May 1 by the Department of Water Resources. No allocation changes this week.

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