Releases from Davis and Parker dams will vary from about 4,400 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)
----        -----     ----     -----     ----     -----     ----
Sep 17       9000    448.5     10600    642.4      9600    1115.4
Sep 18       9000    448.2     12400    642.2      9600    1115.4
Sep 19       8000    448.3     12400    642.0      9600    1115.4
Sep 20       7000    448.6     12400    641.7      9600    1115.4
Sep 21       8500    448.7     12400    641.5      9600    1115.3
Sep 22       9000    448.7     12400    641.0      6000    1115.4
Sep 23       9000    448.8     12400    640.5      6000    1115.4

Average      8500              12100               8600

Sep 24 to
Sep 30       9400    448.6     11100    639.1      8600    1115.3

Oct  1 to
Oct  7       8000    447.0      7700    638.2      6200    1115.5

Current Lake Powell storage is 14,055 thousand acre-feet (KAF) (58 percent of capacity). Lake Mead storage is 13,175 KAF (50 percent of capacity). Total system storage is 34,408 KAF (58 percent of capacity). Lake Powell elevation is 3,622.73 feet.

The observed April-July inflow for the Colorado River is 2.063 million acre-feet or 29 percent of average.

Yesterday, the average Colorado River flows were 1,490 cfs near the Yuma Fourth Avenue Bridge and 1,702 cfs at the Northerly International Boundary. The average release from Painted Rock Dam was 0 cfs and Alamo Dam was 17 cfs. The Morelos Dam diversions for the week of 17-Sep-2012 are expected to be 1,314 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.