Upper Colorado governors oppose federal drawdown of Flaming Gorge reservoir

A federal plan to move hundreds of thousands of acre-feet from Flaming Gorge could shave several feet off the reservoir and scramble summer launch plans for marinas, outfitters and houseboat operators. Flaming Gorge’s pool elevation was about 6,022.8 feet, roughly 82 percent of live storage, as of April 5, 2026, and public planning discussions in April explored ranges from targeted contributions in the 660,000 acre-foot neighborhood up to combined upper-unit scenarios approaching one million acre-feet, figures framed as planning options rather than final federal commitments.

That operational risk prompted a coordinated statement from Governors Jared Polis, Mark Gordon, Michelle Lujan Grisham and Spencer Cox on April 9, 2026, citing the 2019 Drought Response Operations Agreement as the governing mechanism for any temporary releases. The governors wrote, “It is critical that any releases made by the federal government from Flaming Gorge and other upstream reservoirs are in compliance with existing agreements… and done for the purpose of protecting Lake Powell,” and they highlighted local economic and legal consequences from changes in reservoir operations.

The push to consider additional releases follows sharply reduced runoff projections in Reclamation’s 24-Month Study and Colorado Basin River Forecast Center outlooks. Reclamation’s March and April modeling placed most probable unregulated inflow to Lake Powell near 4.9 to 5.0 million acre-feet, about 50 percent of average, while probable minimum scenarios were near 3.5 million acre-feet; CBRFC seasonal forecasts for April–July showed flows as low as 22 to 38 percent of average. Reclamation models flagged the risk of Lake Powell approaching the 3,490-foot minimum power-pool elevation used in Glen Canyon Dam operations, a trigger that has driven drought-response planning and interstate coordination with the Upper Colorado River Commission, where executive director Chuck Cullom has been coordinating late-April deliberations.

Local operators remember precedent: emergency DROA contributions moved about 161,000 acre-feet in 2021 and an authorization of roughly 500,000 acre-feet from Flaming Gorge was implemented from May 2022 to April 2023, actions that lowered pool levels by multiple feet and affected ramp access and marina slip depth. Flaming Gorge’s full pool is 6,040 feet with total capacity near 3,788,900 acre-feet and active capacity around 3,515,700 acre-feet, so multi-hundred-thousand-acre-foot moves materially change usable depth at boat ramps and houseboat docks.

For trip planners and outfitters the near-term calendar matters: Reclamation posts daily Flaming Gorge operational status and is hosting a Flaming Gorge Working Group meeting on April 21, 2026 in Vernal, and UCRC meetings are scheduled later in April to refine options. Concessioners at Antelope Point, Wahweap and Bullfrog, river guides in the Green River corridor and marinas around Flaming Gorge will face the clearest on-the-ground impacts if managers authorize large temporary releases or change downstream flow schedules; Glen Canyon National Recreation Area had about 5.2 million visitors in 2023, underscoring the scale of potential disruption.

These coordinated governor-level cautions make clear that any action will be legally bounded, negotiated and watched closely by operators. Expect further Reclamation 24-Month Study updates and state coordination notes in the coming weeks that will determine whether temporary changes to ramp schedules, slip availability and guided-trip timing become necessary this summer.