Aspen Journalism is compiling a data dashboard highlighting metrics of local public interest, updated weekly.
Streamflows remain relatively unchanged from last week
Transbasin diversion resumed around Oct. 28 and shut down on Nov. 4 before starting again on Nov. 5.
At Stillwater, located upstream of Aspen, the Roaring Fork River ran at 21.4 cfs on Nov. 5, or 62.9% of average, which is the same as last week when the river ran at 21.4 cfs but up from 59.4% of average.
Water through the tunnel that sends Roaring Fork flows east of the Continental Divide went from 1.6 cfs on Oct. 22 to 15.2 cfs on Oct. 29 and then to 21.4 cfs on Nov. 5.
The USGS sensor below Maroon Creek recorded the Fork running at 128 cfs on Nov. 5, or 104.1% of average. On Oct. 29, the river was running at 135 cfs.
At Emma, below the confluence with the dam-controlled Fryingpan, the Nov. 5 streamflow of 316 cfs represented about 95.5% of average. That’s down from 353 cfs on Oct. 29 and up from 106.6% of average.
Meanwhile, the Crystal River above Avalanche Creek, which is not impacted by dams or transbasin diversions, flowed at 65 cfs or 82.7% of average. Last week, the river ran at 75 cfs, or 88.2% of average.
The Colorado River ran at 1,810 cfs at Glenwood Springs, or 94.8% of average, on Nov. 5, down from 2,340 cfs last week, while the Colorado flowed at 4,060 cfs near the Colorado-Utah stateline, or 102% of average.
Aspen Journalism is compiling real time streamflow data. You can find all the featured stations from the dashboard with their real-time streamflow on this webpage.
Lake Powell’s water levels keep decreasing
Lake Powell‘s water levels began their seasonal rise in mid-March as warming temperatures initiated snowmelt, after the reservoir in the winter dropped to its lowest level on record since filling. Water levels peaked in early July and are now slowing decreasing. On Nov. 5, the reservoir was 37.29% full (based on updated 2017-18 sedimentation data). That’s down from Oct. 29, when the nation’s second-largest reservoir was at 37.44%.
Last year, on July 1, 2022, the Bureau of Reclamation revised its data on the amount of water stored in Lake Powell, with a new, lower tally taking into account a 4% drop in the reservoir’s total available capacity between 1986 and 2018 due to sedimentation. Aspen Journalism in July published a story explaining the that drop in storage due to sedimentation. We will be now using the 2017-18 sedimentation data only.
On Nov. 5, 2022, the reservoir was 24.96% full.
On Nov. 5, Lake Powell’s elevation reached 3,572.3 feet, or 127.7 feet from full pool, which is down from 3,572.8 feet on Oct. 29. Last year, on Nov. 5 the reservoir reached 3,529.71 feet in elevation, or 170.29 feet from full pool.
The “minimum power pool” for turbines generating hydropower at the Glen Canyon Dam is 3,490 feet, and 3,525 feet has been set as a buffer to ensure that the reservoir and the turbines can continue to function properly.
Below-freezing temperatures recorded at ASE
High air temperatures at the Aspen airport dropped from 59°F on Oct. 26 to 30°F on Oct. 29, which is about 20 degrees below average, before going up to 53°F on Nov. 2. Meanwhile, low temperatures went from 27°F on Oct. 25 to 2°F on Oct. 30 before reaching 21°F on Nov. 2.
Clean air in Aspen
The air quality in Aspen was “good.” The air quality index for ozone ranged from 35 and Nov. 3 to 41 on Oct. 30 and Nov. 4.
