Red Deer River Basin - Water Supply Forecasts

As of April 1, 2006, natural runoff volumes for the March to September 2006 period are forecast to be below average into Dickson Dam and for Red Deer, at 80 and 77% of average, respectively (Table 6a). This represents a drop of 2 to 3% of average since the March 1 forecasts. The current forecasted volume at Red Deer would rank 31st lowest in 91-years of record (1912-2001).

The first month of the forecast period has been completed, with March 2006 recorded runoff volumes ranging from 80 to 88% 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 2006 forecast minus the recorded volume to date, is available in Table 6b.