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Prineville Reservoir Decreases Flow Releases Starting Wednesday

PRINEVILLE, OR -- The already low levels at Prineville Reservoir will drop even more on Wednesday due to less demand for seasonal irrigation. Peter Cooper, a Civil Engineer with the Bureau of Reclamation tells KBND News, “The main change the public is going to see is lower river flows below Prineville reservoir. We will be decreasing our diversions from the reservoir at the same time irrigations diversions will be decreasing their diversions down stream.”
Prineville Reservoir was 12% full last week. “Following the decrease in releases the water level in the reservoir should stabilize right there at about 11% full. So it will continue to decrease here for a few days and then will kind of flatten out as the Reservoir decreases,” Cooper said. Lower-than-normal water levels in the Crooked River are expected, which could potentially impact recreational activities
Cooper calls the already-low levels at the reservoir "unprecedented." He says, “Digital Records of Prineville Reservoir levels go back to 1976. Multiple years of Drought have resulted in an extremely limited water supply in the Crooked River basin this season. Crooked River Basin received one of the lowest snow packs on records [which] date back to the early 1980s”.
 
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