Releases from Davis and Parker dams will vary from about 4,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 19,000 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 12      11500    446.7     15000    641.9     17300    1132.0
Mar 13      12400    446.7     15000    642.0     17400    1131.8
Mar 14      11800    446.7     15000    642.2     17400    1131.7
Mar 15      10200    446.9     15000    642.3     17400    1131.6
Mar 16      11000    447.0     15000    642.4     17400    1131.4
Mar 17      11000    447.1     15200    642.3     13900    1131.4
Mar 18      11500    447.2     15200    642.2     13900    1131.3

Average     11300              15100              16400

Mar 19 to
Mar 25      12000    447.3     15400    642.5     16400    1130.5

Mar 26 to
Apr  1      12200    446.9     16200    642.5     16700    1129.6

Current Lake Powell storage is 15,422 thousand acre-feet (KAF) (63 percent of capacity). Lake Mead storage is 14,833 KAF (57 percent of capacity). Total system storage is 37,812 KAF (63 percent of capacity). Lake Powell elevation is 3,635.01 feet.

The April-July forecast for the Colorado River is 5.30 million acre-feet or 74 percent of average.

Yesterday, the average Colorado River flows were 706 cfs near the Yuma Fourth Avenue Bridge and 2,733 cfs at the Northerly International Boundary. The average release from Painted Rock Dam was 0 cfs and Alamo Dam was 39 cfs. The Morelos Dam diversions for the week of 12-Mar-2012 are expected to be 2,808 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.