Yes, we have big water coming our way.

 Mike Eytel, a waterresources specialist with the Colorado River District, confirmed as much atlast night’s annual “State of the River” conference in El Jebel co-sponsored bythe river district, the Roaring Fork Conservancy and the Ruedi Water and PowerAuthority.

Enough snow fell in the Colorado River Basin this winterthat water watchers now expect Lake Powell in Utah to rise 50 feet this spring,Eytel said. And the amount of water in the snowpack in the Upper Colorado RiverBasin is at 144 percent of average for this time of year.

There is a 25 percent chance that the Roaring ForkRiver, just above its confluence with the Colorado River in Glenwood Springs,could hit 12,000 cubic feet per second, probably sometime in the second half ofJune or early July.

Last night, the Roaring Fork in Glenwood was flowing at2,230 cfs.

And the Colorado River through Westwater Canyon, justover the Utah state line, could see between 44,000 and 48,000 cfs of watersometime this spring, way up from the 18,900 cfs it was running last night.

“That’s pretty big water,” said Eytel, adding that thistype of high water is seen only once a decade or every two decades. “Just hangon,” Eytel told the crowd of 70 people at the event. “We’re gonna have fun.”

Eytel was the first speaker at the annual meeting, whichis designed to update the public on the state of local rivers.

To that end, a sneak preview of a film in progressdocumenting the Roaring Fork River watershed by local filmmaker Greg Poschmanwas shown to hearty applause. The film is being underwritten by the Ruedi Waterand Power Authority, which works closely with the federal Bureau of Reclamationto manage Ruedi Reservoir, and by the Roaring Fork Conservancy, which works toprotect the health of the rivers and streams in the watershed.

Following that, Sharon Clarke, a water resourcespecialist with the conservancy, gave an update on the first phase of the draftRoaring Fork Watershed Plan. Phase one of the plan is a 400-page documentdetailing the state of the rivers and streams in the watershed and the naturaland human forces that are shaping those rivers and streams. The plan dividesthe main Roaring Fork watershed, which stretches from the top of the CrystalRiver to the top of the Fryingpan River, into nine sub-watersheds and givesdetailed information about each of those areas.

Mark Fuller, managerof the Ruedi Water and Power Authority, which is also helping to finance thewatershed plan, said that phase two of the process will be to gather publiccomment on the plan to develop a detailed set of goals and objectives for thewatershed.

Randy Rhodes of Xcel Energy gave an update on thereconstruction of the Shoshone power plant that uses water diverted from theColorado River just upriver from Glenwood Springs to generate 15 megawatts ofelectricity.

Xcel spent $12million over the last 10 months repairing the plant that was damaged last Junewhen one of its penstocks, or giant pipes, that delivers water 165 feet downinto turbines, burst open and filled the plant with water, mud and rock.

In response to a question, Rhodes said Xcel rebuilt theplant in large measure because of its importance to the Colorado River. Theplant’s water rights date back to 1905 and have since become a key component inmanaging water rights up and down the Colorado River.

Fryingpan still in good shape

Then the focus turned to the mudflow last August downSeven Castles Creek that pushed the Fryingpan River out of its normal channel.

Bill Miller of Miller Ecological Consultants reportedhis findings that the mudflow slightly lowered the ecological quality of theriver just below the confluence with Seven Castles Creek, but that the riverwas still in fine shape by the time it reached Basalt, several miles below.

Miller said it was agood decision not to release a large amount of water last fall to flush the mudand debris down the river, as it would have confused the fish and insects, andthat it made sense to let the spring runoff do what it will do this year toshape the debris fan left in the river.

Fun weather facts

Finally, Nolan Doeskin, state climatologist with theColorado Climate Center at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, gave thelocal crowd a weather quiz.

Hottest temperature ever in Aspen? 94 degrees.

Coldest temperature this winter in Aspen, as measured atthe city’s water treatment plant above the hospital? Minus 11 degrees.

All-time coldest temperature recorded in Aspen? Minus37, on Jan. 19, 1943. (The coldest temperature ever recorded in Colorado wasminus 61 degrees in Maybell in northwest Colorado.)

Driest month of the year in the high country in Pitkinand Eagle counties? June.

Clearest month of the year, with the most blue-sky days?September (especially late September, when the aspens usually turn).

Amount of total precipitation in Aspen that falls assnow? 55 percent.

Number of official National Weather Service weatherstations in Pitkin County? One, at the Aspen water plant. (There is also aweather station at the airport, but it is a “collaborative” site.)

Was this winter more “wintry,” less “wintry” or normal?More! (Everyone knew the answer to that one.)

Number of times since 1936 that the snowpack onIndependence Pass as of May 1 contained at least 23 inches of snow-waterequivalent? Six, including this year.

And as the man saidat the start of the meeting, it’s all heading downriver soon.