The
headwaters of the Platte River are being well supplied by snowmelt
and heavy rains this season, supplying ample water to downstream
reservoirs, including Lake McConaughy, which is currently
at 81.3% full.
On
June 14, 2010, The
Casper Journal reported on the current condition of the reservoir
and upper Platte River Basin in Wyoming:
"John
Lawson, area manager of the Bureau of Reclamation in Wyoming,
said wet and dry years come in 10-year cycles. “We spend five
years draining these reservoirs and five years filling them.”
In 2007, there were only 170,000-acre-feet of water in Pathfinder.
“It looked like a river,” Lawson said.
But
then the cycle switched. In 2008, there were 955,000-acre-feet
of inflow into Seminoe; in 2009 there were 964,000-acre-feet.
This year, Lawson is estimating 1,180,000-acre-feet of water will
enter the catch system at Seminoe Reservoir. “We're going from
famine to feast,” he said.
Based on the snow pack he believes is yet to melt, Lawson is estimating
that by the end of June the system will be full."
"
Lawson expects the river system to be full by the end of July.
Inflows from May 1 through June 10 of this year were the third
highest in 30 years. And the inflows into Seminoe for the first
10 days of June were the highest in the last 30 years. “As a result
of what are becoming record inflows we could be spilling over
Pathfinder Dam as early as June 17,” he said.
These
photos were taken by North Platte NRD staff June 18, 2010 at the
Pathfinder Dam/Pathfinder Reservoir located 45 miles southwest
of Casper, Wyo. as the historic spill took place:
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