Red Deer River Basin - Water Supply Forecasts

As of April 1, 2005, natural runoff volumes for the March to September 2005 period are forecast to be near average for the Red Deer River basin, at 92% of average (Table 5). The current forecasted volumes for the March to September 2005 period for the Red Deer River basin are 8 to 16% higher than the volumes recorded over the same time period last year. The March forecasts are 1% lower than last month's. Current forecasted volume at Red Deer would rank 48th lowest in 91-years of record (1912-2001).

The first month of the forecast period has been completed, with March 2005 recorded runoff volumes ranging from 131 to 145% of average, which is above to much above 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 2005 forecast minus the recorded volume to date, is available in Table 5b.