Releases from Davis and Parker dams will vary from about 4,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 20,000 cfs during a 24-hour period. River levels will vary during the 24-hour periods with the higher levels coinciding with periods of peak hydroelectric power generation. Levels below the dams are usually highest during the afternoon and early evening. Average daily releases may vary in response to changing conditions.

Average daily releases and midnight lake elevations for the week, as well as anticipated averages for the following 2 weeks, are scheduled as follows:

            Parker             Davis              Hoover         
            Dam       Lake     Dam       Lake     Dam       Lake 
            Average   Havasu   Average   Mohave   Average   Mead 
            Release   Elev.    Release   Elev.    Release   Elev.
Date        (cfs)     (ft)     (cfs)     (ft)     (cfs)     (ft) 
----        -----     ----     -----     ----     -----     ---- 
Mar  5      11800    446.4     14800    641.8     16900    1132.7
Mar  6      11800    446.3     14800    641.9     16900    1132.6
Mar  7      11800    446.4     14800    642.0     16900    1132.4
Mar  8       8800    446.7     14800    642.1     16900    1132.3
Mar  9      11800    446.7     14800    642.3     16900    1132.2
Mar 10      11800    446.7     14800    642.1     13500    1132.1
Mar 11      11800    446.7     14800    642.0     13500    1132.1

Average     11400              14800              15900

Mar 12 to
Mar 18      11800    446.9     15200    642.4     16400    1131.3

Mar 19 to
Mar 25      12000    447.5     16000    642.4     16400    1130.5

Current Lake Powell storage is 15,450 thousand acre-feet (KAF) (64 percent of capacity). Lake Mead storage is 14,905 KAF (57 percent of capacity). Total system storage is 37,929 KAF (64 percent of capacity). Lake Powell elevation is 3,635.26 feet.

The April-July forecast for the Colorado River is 5.05 million acre-feet or 71 percent of average.

Yesterday, the average Colorado River flows were 624 cfs near the Yuma Fourth Avenue Bridge and 2,758 cfs at the Northerly International Boundary. The average release from Painted Rock Dam was 0 cfs and Alamo Dam was 33 cfs. The Morelos Dam diversions for the week of 05-Mar-2012 are expected to be 2,740 cfs.

ALL RIVER USERS should remember that fluctuating river flows may conceal or create natural hazards such as moving sandbars, gravel bars, unstable riverbanks, floating or submerged debris, or other unfamiliar obstacles. Caution should be exercised while using the river between Davis Dam and the Mexican Border at San Luis, Arizona.