Posted: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 12:00 am
MILLS. (AP) - The State Engineer's Office has placed restrictions on the use of water from the North Platte River in an effort to help fill Pathfinder and Guernsey reservoirs.
Pathfinder's water right dates to 1904 and Guernsey's to 1923, meaning upstream water users must have older water rights to be able to use the river water before the call ends May 1.
Besides the reservoirs remaining low after several years of drought, forecasts predict water to continue to be in short supply, according to John Lawson, Wyoming area director for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Forecasts predict 828,000 acre-feet will flow into the reservoir system through July. But demand for eastern Wyoming and Nebraska irrigators over that time is 1.1 million acre-feet.
"So we're 272,000 acre-feet short," Lawson said.
Meanwhile, snowpack in and around the mountains of the upper Platte River drainage last week was 90 percent of the 30-year average, while Lower North Platte snowpack was 81 percent.
Even if snowpack reaches average, runoff would be below average because the drought-stricken land would absorb much of the water before it got to the river, he said.
Pathfinder is 32 percent full and Seminoe 27 percent. Guernsey Reservoir on the North Platte in eastern Wyoming is 35 percent full.
The federal government requested the call and it was granted by State Engineer Pat Tyrrell, effective Thursday.
Lawson said the call mainly affects ranchers with junior water rights who are trying to fill irrigation reservoirs.