Disclaimers

Model results are projections current as of April 1, 2012 and should not be taken as actual values. For current water operations information on Bureau of Reclamation projects contact the Bureau of Reclamation.

Reclamation Contact information:

                Albuquerque Area Office
                Middle Rio Grande Project Operations:

                Carolyn Donnelly (505) 462-3607
                Ed Kandl (505) 462-3586
                Raymond Abeyta (505) 462-3582

                El Paso Field Division
                Rio Grande Project Operations

                Derrick O’Hara (915) 534-6315

The information shown in the model may vary from the Official Annual Operating Plan for the Middle Rio Grande located on the Bureau of Reclamation web site at: www.usbr.gov/uc/albuq/water.

Though Elephant Butte and Caballo Reservoirs are included in the URGWOM model, this model does not represent the official forecast for Elephant Butte and Caballo Reservoir inflows, elevations, releases, or any other projections or results or any operations for the Rio Grande Project. That information may be found at the Bureau of Reclamation El Paso Field Division website at: www.usbr.gov/uc/elpaso/water.

The volume of Prior and Paramount El Vado storage (P&P Indian Storage) that is indicated in the model is preliminary, and not intended to represent the final volume stored for the senior water rights of the Six Middle Rio Grande Pueblos. The model only provides an estimate of the P&P Indian Storage volume.

Model results for Rio Grande Compact Accounting are based on simplified assumptions and should not be taken as actual values.

Assumptions

General Assumptions

March-July runoff volumes from NRCS April 1 50% Exceedence Forecast.

The following historic year hydrographs were used for modeling the March-July runoff period.

Middle Rio Grande irrigation operations, diversions, return flows, etc. are based off of estimated projected values.       

Middle Valley ET is based off of the year used for hydrology, which was 1989.

Post runoff flows (August-December) use the same hydrologic year as used for the forecast period.

El Vado Reservoir

Model was set to capture 20,000 acre-feet of Prior and Paramount storage and 30,000 acre-feet of MRGCD Drought Storage (relinquished credit). 18,700 acre-feet of supplemental water is released to maintain target flows in the middle valley.

Abiquiu Reservoir

Approximately 15,500 acre-feet of supplemental water is used to maintain target flows.

Cochiti Reservoir

MRGCD’s anticipated demand schedule is used.

Looking at the Model

You will need RiverWare or RiverWare Viewer version 5.0 or later installed on your computer to view the model file. Both applications require  a license. The Viewer version is free of charge. To obtain a license for RiverWare Viewer, go to the following website:

http://cadswes.colorado.edu/riverware/viewer/

Download the April 2012 URGWOM model run. Depending on your computer’s configuration, you may need to right-click on the link below and select “Save…”. This model contains both model input and output:

                Model file: URGWOM_5.0_4-12-12_April AOP_50 Percent_Final.mdl.gz

Also available are the ruleset and an Excel file with canned plots of the reservoirs and some stream gages:

                Ruleset:URGWOM_5.0_4-8-12.rlz.gz

               Excel file: Apr_12-50 Percent_AOP_Plots_Final.xls

We have written up a quick tour to get you started with Water Operations model. If you have questions, please contact Curtis McFadden at 505-342-3351.