Red Deer River Basin - Water Supply Forecasts

Natural runoff volumes for the March to September 2004 period are forecast to be below-average for the Red Deer River basin, ranging from 79 to 81% of average (Table 5a). The current forecasted volumes for the March to September 2004 period for the Red Deer River basin are 1 to 2% higher than last month's, and 17 to 19% lower than the volumes recorded over the same time period last year. Current forecasted volume at Red Deer would rank 35th lowest in 91-years of record (1912-2001).

The first month of the forecast period has been completed, with March 2004 recorded runoff volumes ranging from 75 to 97% of average, which is below-average to average for March. Recorded volume data is preliminary, due to ice effects, and is subject to change. March volumes typically comprise a small portion of the March to September total. The remaining volume forecast, which is the March to September 2004 forecast minus the recorded volume to date, is available in Table 5b.