Releases from Davis and Parker dams will vary from about 4,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 24,000 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) 
----        -----     ----     -----     ----     -----     ---- 
Apr 16      13000    448.5     18800    642.0     21400    1126.6
Apr 17      13100    448.6     18800    642.2     21400    1126.4
Apr 18      12100    448.8     18600    642.3     21400    1126.2
Apr 19      10300    449.2     18600    642.5     21400    1126.0
Apr 20      12500    449.3     17000    642.8     21400    1125.8
Apr 21      12500    449.4     17000    642.8     17900    1125.6
Apr 22      12500    449.3     17000    642.8     17900    1125.5

Average     12300              18000              20400

Apr 23 to
Apr 29      12900    449.1     17400    644.1     20400    1124.2

Apr 30 to
May  6      12000    449.0     16400    644.0     16700    1123.2

Current Lake Powell storage is 15,514 thousand acre-feet (KAF) (64 percent of capacity). Lake Mead storage is 14,323 KAF (55 percent of capacity). Total system storage is 37,434 KAF (63 percent of capacity). Lake Powell elevation is 3,635.81 feet.

The April-July forecast for the Colorado River is 3.5 million acre-feet or 49 percent of average.

Yesterday, the average Colorado River flows were 733 cfs near the Yuma Fourth Avenue Bridge and 2,868 cfs at the Northerly International Boundary. The average release from Painted Rock Dam was 0 cfs and Alamo Dam was 41 cfs. The Morelos Dam diversions for the week of 16-Apr-2012 are expected to be 2,760 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.