Wet water, not paper water.

Reservoir storage, basin rollups, drought class and allocations, pulled from the public record every day and compared to what is normal. One brief a week. No forecasts, no spin.

Data through Aug 12, 2026 · updated Aug 13, 2026

Latest issue · Aug 10, 2026

Dolores River Drops 74% on the Week to 9.8 cfs

Dolores River drops 74% on the week to 9.8 cfs, 89% below the 5-year median; Blue Mesa falls 5% to 221,055 af; 91% of Colorado in D1+ drought.

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Furthest below normal

All reservoirs →

Dolores River near Cisco streamflow

Daily mean discharge, Dolores-Colorado basin, Utah

6.3 cfs · Aug 12, 2026

-92% vs 5-yr median

Elephant Butte Reservoir water level

Live reservoir storage and water level in Rio Grande basin, New Mexico

27,141 af · Aug 12, 2026

-73% vs 5-yr median

Yampa River near Maybell streamflow

Daily mean discharge, Yampa-Green basin, Colorado

36 cfs · Aug 12, 2026

-66% vs 5-yr median

Rio Grande at Otowi Bridge streamflow

Daily mean discharge, Rio Grande basin, New Mexico

244 cfs · Aug 12, 2026

-63% vs 5-yr median

Blue Mesa Reservoir water level

Live reservoir storage and water level in Gunnison-Colorado basin, Colorado

215,308 af · Aug 12, 2026

-57% vs 5-yr median

Gunnison River below Gunnison Tunnel streamflow

Daily mean discharge, Gunnison-Colorado basin, Colorado

287 cfs · Aug 12, 2026

-56% vs 5-yr median

Bighorn River at Kane streamflow

Daily mean discharge, Bighorn-Missouri basin, Wyoming

467 cfs · Aug 12, 2026

-55% vs 5-yr median

Carson River near Carson City streamflow

Daily mean discharge, Carson-Great Basin basin, Nevada

8.9 cfs · Aug 12, 2026

-52% vs 5-yr median

The West on one map

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Drought by state, storage at each dam — color is condition vs the 5-yr median. Explore the full map →

The data

Reservoirs

Storage vs the historical normal for major western reservoirs.

21 pages

Basins

Storage and streamflow rolled up by western river basin.

4 pages

Drought

Drought class by state and county, week over week.

24 pages

Allocations

CVP and SWP allocation announcements, as they land.

21 pages

Streamflow

Daily mean discharge at basin-representative gauges.

32 pages

Snowpack

Snow water equivalent vs the 1991-2020 median, by state and river basin.

5 pages