Special to The Explorer The Central Arizona Project projects
"normal" water supplies over the next two years on the Colorado,
Salt and Verde river systems, CAP said in a Thursday release. El
Nino conditions in the Pacific reduced snowpack in the upper
Colorado River basin. But El Nino also fueled a wet winter and
spring in the Salt, Verde, Agua Fria and Bill Williams
watersheds, "resulting in full reservoirs and release of excess
water to the Colorado River, reducing the amount of water
released from Lake Mead," it continued. Lake Mead is expected to
finish 2010 at an elevation of 1,088 feet above sea level. In
2012, CAP projects a 15-20 percent probability that Lake Mead
will have fallen an additional 13 feet to 1,075 feet, triggering
a declaration of "shortage" on the Colorado River. "Should the
Secretary of the Interior declare a shortage, CAP, with the
lowest priority to Colorado River water, would have its annual
entitlement reduced by 288,000 acre-feet (93 billion gallons),
or roughly 18 percent," the r