Releases from Davis and Parker dams will vary from about 4,500 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)
----        -----     ----      -----     ----      -----     ----
May  6      12000     448.5     16000     643.5     16300     1112.1
May  7      12000     448.5     16000     643.5     16300     1112.0
May  8      11000     448.5     16000     643.4     16300     1111.9
May  9      10000     448.6     16000     643.4     16300     1111.7
May 10      12000     448.6     16000     643.4     16300     1111.6
May 11      12000     448.5     16000     643.2     14300     1111.5
May 12      12000     448.4     16000     643.0     13800     1111.4

Average     11600               16000               15700

May 13 to
May 19      11200     448.2     15400     642.9     15700     1110.6

May 20 to
May 26      10900     448.1     15400     642.7     15700     1109.8

Current Lake Powell storage is 11,396 thousand acre-feet (KAF) (47 percent of capacity). Lake Mead storage is 12,887 KAF (49 percent of capacity). Total system storage is 31,117 KAF (52 percent of capacity). Lake Powell elevation is 3,596.25 feet.

The April-July forecast for the Colorado River is 3.00 million acre-feet or 42 percent of average.

Yesterday, the average Colorado River flows were 632 cfs near the Yuma Fourth Avenue Bridge and 1,596 cfs at the Northerly International Boundary. The average release from Painted Rock Dam was 0 cfs and Alamo Dam was 34 cfs. The Morelos Dam diversions for the week of 06-May-2013 are expected to be 1,444 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.