Starting Sunday, the Bureau of Reclamation will begin reducing Voluntary Flow Management Program flows in the Arkansas River below Twin Lakes Reservoir.

At Thurday’s Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District board meeting, hydrologist Jord Gertson reported that water managers will begin “ramping down VFMP flows.”

The river is currently flowing at 725 cubic feet per second at Salida, but Gertson said flows are expected to be approximately 300 cfs at Salida after Tuesday.

The VFMP supplements flows between Twin Lakes and Pueblo reservoirs from July 1 to mid August every year to support recreational boating.

Board Vice Chair Greg Felt said other Colorado river flows are below the 25th percentile, illustrating the importance of the VFMP to the upper Arkansas River.

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Joe Stone

Joe Stone is an award-winning journalist and science writer with an extensive background in water and forest health issues. Joe has reported on local, regional and state water issues for more than 20 years, and he wrote and edited numerous reports about water, ecology and environmental issues while working at Oak Ridge National Lab. Joe's background also includes serving on the South Platte Basin Roundtable, the Chaffee County Planning Commission, the Friends of Browns Canyon Board, and the Harris Park Water and Sanitation District Board.

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