Report of the River Master of the Delaware River; for the period December 1, 1993-November 30, 1994
Year: 1997
Type: report
Abstract: Monthly precipitation in the upper Delaware River basin during the 1994 River Master report year ranged from 34 percent of the long-term average during October to 189 percent during August.Total precipitation during the year was 5.69 inches above average.Precipitation during the December to May period, when reservoirs typically refill, was 113 percent of the 53-year average.On December 1, 1993, when this report year began, combined storage in the New York City reservoirs in the upper Delaware River Basin was 125.867 billion gallons (Bgal), 46.5 percent of the combined storage capacity.Median storage on December 1, based on 26 years of data, is 169.270Bgal.Operations on December 1, 1993 were being conducted at reduced levels designed to address the water-supply shortages caused by the drought-warning conditions in the basin as prescribed by the "Interstate Water Management Recommendations of the Parties to the Decree" (DRBC Resolution 83-13).The recovery from the drought-warning conditions in the basin that had begun in November, 1993, continued during December, and storage in the New York City reservoirs increased sufficiently by December 5 to allow a return to normal operation as prescribed in the Decree on December 6, 1993.Storage increased steadily during December, remained relatively constant during January and February, 1994, and increased steadily during March until mid-April, when all the reservoirs were spilling.On November 30,1994, the end of this report year, the combined storage in the New York City reservoirs was 185.167Bgal, 68.4 percent of capacity, and the operations in the basin continued to be conducted as prescribed in the Decree.During the report year, the River Master and staff participated in meetings of the Delaware River Basin Commission to assess water-supply conditions.Upon invitation of the representatives of the Parties to the Decree, the Acting Delaware River Master met periodically with those representatives as a member of the Flow Management Technical Advisory Committee.Discussions centered primarily on proposals for the management of releases from reservoirs in the basin and other measures designed to cope with streamflow deficiencies whenever they occur.
DOI: 10.3133/ofr97371
Authors: B.E. Krejmas, W.E. Harkness, W.J. Carswell, C.R. Wood
Language: English
Subfield: Water Science and Technology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W42366301