Milk River Basin - Water Supply Forecasts

Much-below-average natural runoff volumes are forecast for the March to September 2002 period in the Milk River basin (Table 2a). Current forecasts in the basin range from 37 to 42 % of the median. Current forecasted values for the March to September period for the Milk River at Milk River would rank fourteenth lowest in 84-years of record (1912-95). The April 1 forecasts did not change significantly from last month's forecast. Current runoff volume forecasts for this year are 16 to 18% higher than recorded runoff volumes last summer.

The first month of the forecast period has been completed, with March 2002 recorded runoff volumes being the much-below-average, ranging from 0 to 10 % of the median. Preliminary data indicates that the recorded March volume set or came very close to setting new historical minimum values for the month. The remaining volume forecast, which is the March to September 2002 forecast minus the recorded volume to date, is available in Table 2b.