30 Comments
Apr 21Liked by Jonathan P. Thompson

I love seeing all the great Peak Flow guesses! I live on the banks of the Colorado River, below the confluence of the Gunnison River (thus the name of my wood working business Confluence Woodcraft LLC), a bit upstream from the State Line gauge. The river has been a creamy red-brown color for weeks. I am currently thinking the coasters will be Juniper wood with a blue-green resin celebrating the red canyon walls of Ruby Horsethief Canyon where the gauge sits. But maybe I’ll explore color matching the color of the run off...

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This is not a prediction on water flow rates, no logistic regression equation for this retired (tired) statistician – I leave that to others wiser than I. This is a comment on the unprecedented amount of water to be released from Lake Powell. It’s weird, seems that all I read and hear about in California is that Lake Powell and Mead have reached critical low levels that are threatening our water supply and generation of hydroelectricity. The justification for this Lake Powell release is to simulate a flood in the Grand Canyon! This seems rather strange to me, but then I don’t claim to be a water capture and delivery expert. If one of Jonathan’s many readers has a contrary view perhaps, they can enlighten this cynical old guy. Thank you.

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Apr 21Liked by Jonathan P. Thompson

June 15 , 30,800 cfs Colorado River

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Apr 21Liked by Jonathan P. Thompson

CO River: 29,900 cfs, June 10th

Dolores: 7,850 cfs, June 3rd

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Apr 21Liked by Jonathan P. Thompson

Colorado state line: 35,000 cfs on June 12

Dolores: 5,000 cfs on June 1

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Apr 21Liked by Jonathan P. Thompson

Colorado River--May 22, 24,500 CFS

Dolores River--April 14, 6690 cfs

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Apr 21Liked by Jonathan P. Thompson

18,432 cfs on May 27th 2023 (from Audrey Kruse)

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Apr 22Liked by Jonathan P. Thompson

34.5k at the Stateline on June 1st, 7.2k at Gateway on May 14th

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Apr 22Liked by Jonathan P. Thompson

Thanks, Jonathan, for hosting this interesting opportunity to engage a spectrum of people in considering river flows, timing, and how snowpack and springtime weather influences runoff. Already I see some great guesses and I think it is really interesting to think that a guess in the mid 20’s is just as valid as a guess in the mid-40s. So many complex variables to consider… Although when Tom K put in is guess, I could hear it echo throughout the Grand Valley. But maybe that’s just me trying to drop the qualifier “sometimes” from my reputation.

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Apr 21Liked by Jonathan P. Thompson

I guess I'm being optimistic since I am in the Dolores area and we have been clobbered! So: Dolores @ Gateway 06/10 - 5,600 CFS. Co @ State Line 06/01 - 40,000 CFS. It's been really cold in the region so there is a lot of hang fire. Cool contest!

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Apr 21Liked by Jonathan P. Thompson

Yampa @ Deerlodge 27,400 June 1

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Apr 21Liked by Jonathan P. Thompson

Colorado @ State Line: 45,700cfs June 6

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Apr 21Liked by Jonathan P. Thompson

Colorado River, June 11, 30,000 cfs

Curious if readers have favorite USGS gages they follow year-round, during big water events, close-to-home, or near their favorite place they just take comfort in knowing it exists.

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Apr 21Liked by Jonathan P. Thompson

June 7. 30,000 cfs

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Apr 21Liked by Jonathan P. Thompson

22,000 cfs May 20th! You heard it here first!

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42,000 cfs on May 24th at the Colorado/Utah border

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