William Merkley, General Manager of the Uintah Water Conservancy District, provided a district update recently to the Vernal Chamber of Commerce. The primary responsibility of the Uintah Water Conservancy District is to operate and maintain the Steinaker and Red Fleet Reservoirs and related distribution systems. This year’s water levels were better than last year but “last year stunk,” shared Merkley. 100% of the State of Utah is in at least Moderate drought conditions, 50% of the state is in Extreme conditions. The Colorado River, to which the Green River is the main contributor, is as bad as it has been in the last 100 years. In 2019, the upper and lower Colorado Basin prepared a drought contingency plan. Part of the reason there is a plan to release 500,000 feet of water from Flaming Gorge is because water levels need to be at 32/25 to produce power at Lake Powell, the current level is now 35/22.
