Oct 8, 2026
Elephant Butte at 87,311 af, Up 74.7% on the Week
Elephant Butte Reservoir jumped 74.7% on the week to 87,311 af, cutting its five-year median deficit to 23% as WY 2027 opens. Blue Mesa holds at 142,964 af, 65% below normal heading into the new water year.
Numbers as of Oct 8, 2026 pull
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Elephant Butte Reservoir storage climbed 74.7% week over week to 87,311 af, per US Bureau of Reclamation data, cutting the five-year median deficit to 23% in the opening week of water year 2027. Carryover position at this reservoir determines early-season delivery capacity for Rio Grande Project contractors. The reservoir remains 23% below the five-year median.
- Blue Mesa Reservoir (Gunnison, Colorado): 142,964 af, down 65% vs the five-year median per Bureau of Reclamation data and unchanged from the prior week. Blue Mesa is the furthest below normal of any tracked reservoir this issue. The Bureau of Reclamation's September 15, 2026 24-Month Study reported WY 2026 unregulated inflow into Lake Powell at 3.52 maf, 37% of the 30-year average, consistent with the deep deficit across the upper Colorado system.
- Rio Grande (two USGS gauge locations, both falling): One gauge read 653 cfs, down 61% on the week (the five-year median at this location is near zero, making the vs-median comparison uninformative). A second gauge read 996 cfs, down 31% on the week and 157% above its five-year median.
- Salt-Gila system: 454 cfs per USGS, down 96% week over week and 278% above the five-year median.
- Central Valley drought coverage: Fresno, Kings, Merced, Stanislaus and Tulare counties each read 0% area in D1-D4 drought per the US Drought Monitor, unchanged on the week. Zero is the best possible reading. Each county sits well below its five-year median drought coverage for this time of year.
Allocations (standing status):
CVP contractors hold at 100% across Sacramento River irrigation, M&I, Sacramento River Settlement, Folsom M&I and In-Delta M&I contracts per Bureau of Reclamation announcements from February 26, 2026. SWP contractors stand at 45% per DWR's May 1, 2026 announcement. No allocation changes this issue.
Data note: The CVP cross-valley irrigation and CVP south-of-delta irrigation allocation series have not updated in more than two weeks. Treat figures from those specific series as stale until refreshed.