Releases from Davis and Parker dams will vary from about 4,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 23,000 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) 
----        -----     ----     -----     ----     -----     ---- 
Jul 16      12500    448.6     13800    642.3     15100    1115.3
Jul 17      12500    448.5     13800    642.4     15100    1115.3
Jul 18      11500    448.6     13800    642.5     15100    1115.2
Jul 19      10500    448.7     13800    642.5     15100    1115.2
Jul 20      12000    448.7     13800    642.6     15100    1115.2
Jul 21      12000    448.7     13800    642.6     15100    1115.1
Jul 22      12000    448.7     13800    642.7     15100    1115.1

Average     11900              13800              15100

Jul 23 to
Jul 29      11600    448.7     13600    643.2     15100    1114.9

Jul 30 to
Aug  5      11300    448.8     13400    643.2     13900    1114.9

Current Lake Powell storage is 15,035 thousand acre-feet (KAF) (62 percent of capacity). Lake Mead storage is 13,150 KAF (50 percent of capacity). Total system storage is 35,691 KAF (60 percent of capacity). Lake Powell elevation is 3,631.62 feet.

The April-July forecast for the Colorado River is 2.01 million acre-feet or 28 percent of average.

Yesterday, the average Colorado River flows were 1,260 cfs near the Yuma Fourth Avenue Bridge and 1,515 cfs at the Northerly International Boundary. The average release from Painted Rock Dam was 0 cfs and Alamo Dam was 42 cfs. The Morelos Dam diversions for the week of 16-Jul-2012 are expected to be 1,481 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.