Thanks to some foresight last spring by the Bureau of Reclamation, Blue Mesa Reservoir filled last summer for the first time in seven years, which makes this winter's normal drawdown seem more drastic than it actually is...After the Blue Mesa flows were cut last November for the brown trout spawn, releases were increased to reach December target elevations to prevent icing problems upstream of Blue Mesa. Last spring and summer, the runoff forecast changed on a near-daily basis as the snowpack in the Gunnison Basin shrank at alarming rates...Officials from the Western Area Power Administration, which markets the hydropower from the Aspinall Units, pushed the Bureau for an early surge of water, but the Bureau refused based on experience from other similar years. The foresight proved correct, as the snowpack disappeared under a hot spring sun...Had the Bureau not filled Blue Mesa, there would not have been enough hydropower available to help alleviate California's power shortage last winter...The new runoff forecast called for about 650,000 acre-feet of water inflow...The forecast calls for 85 percent of average runoff, but adjustments in releases will be made during the rest of the season.

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