Monitoring Reports

During periods of drought, the Cooperative Water Supply Operations on the Potomac (CO-OP) helps manage the Washington metropolitan area water supply system by coordinating withdrawals from the Potomac River and off-river reservoirs and recommending releases from upstream reservoirs when forecasted flow in the river is not sufficient to meet expected needs. These needs include water demands and an environmental flow-by of 100 million gallons per day (MGD) on the Potomac River at Little Falls dam near Washington, D.C.

FIRST DAY OF WMA DROUGHT EXERCISE: Afternoon Potomac flow and demand update (Monday 2020-11-16)

Submitted by admin1 on Mon, 11/16/2020 - 09:00

Our afternoon report appears below. Note that an ACTUAL test release from Little Seneca Reservoir has been approved by the CO-OP General Managers and is planned to be initiated tomorrow morning at 10 AM at a rate of 400 million gallons per day (MGD) and continued for 12 hours. Due to this release, flow in Seneca Creek will be elevated between approximately 10 AM on November 17 and 6 AM on November 18.

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RECENT CONDITIONS – ACTUAL

CONCLUSION OF THE DROUGHT EXERCISE - Afternoon simulated Potomac flow and demand update (Tuesday 10/11/2020) - DROUGHT EXERCISE

Submitted by admin1 on Sun, 10/11/2020 - 14:00

CONCLUSION OF THE DROUGHT EXERCISE - Afternoon simulated Potomac flow and demand update (Tuesday 10/11/2020) - DROUGHT EXERCISE

This afternoon email report concludes CO-OP's 2016 Washington Metropolitan Area Drought Exercise. We conduct these exercises every year to practice communications and operational procedures that would be used in case of actual low flow conditions in the Potomac River. Thank you all for helping us stay well prepared for drought!

ACTUAL - Basin and system conditions:

DROUGHT EXERCISE - Afternoon simulated Potomac flow and demand update (Monday 10/10/2020)

Submitted by admin1 on Sat, 10/10/2020 - 14:00

There are no changes in requested SIMULATED operations this afternoon.

ACTUAL - Basin and system conditions:

Yesterday's basin-wide average precipitation (above Little Falls):
0.033 inches
(based on CO-OP's Low Flow Forecast System analysis of MARFC gridded multisensor precipitation estimates)

DROUGHT EXERCISE - Afternoon simulated Potomac flow and demand update (Sunday 10/09/2020) - DROUGHT EXERCISE

Submitted by admin1 on Fri, 10/09/2020 - 14:00

There are no changes in requested SIMULATED operations this afternoon.

ACTUAL - Basin and system conditions:

Yesterday's basin-wide average precipitation (above Little Falls):
0.689 inches
(based on CO-OP's Low Flow Forecast System analysis of MARFC gridded quantitative precipitation estimates)

DROUGHT EXERCISE - Afternoon simulated Potomac flow and demand update (Saturday 10/08/2020) - DROUGHT EXERCISE

Submitted by admin1 on Thu, 10/08/2020 - 14:00

There are no changes in requested SIMULATED operations this afternoon.

ACTUAL - Basin and system conditions:

Yesterday's basin-wide average precipitation (above Little Falls):
0.052 inches
(based on CO-OP's Low Flow Forecast System analysis of MARFC gridded quantitative precipitation estimates)

DROUGHT EXERCISE - Afternoon simulated Potomac flow and demand update (Friday 10/07/2020) - DROUGHT EXERCISE

Submitted by admin1 on Wed, 10/07/2020 - 14:00

There are no changes in requested SIMULATED operations this afternoon.

ACTUAL - Basin and system conditions:

Yesterday's basin-wide average precipitation (above Little Falls):
0 inches
(based on CO-OP's Low Flow Forecast System analysis of MARFC gridded quantitative precipitation estimates)

DROUGHT EXERCISE - Afternoon simulated Potomac flow and demand update (Wednesday 10/05/2020) - DROUGHT EXERCISE

Submitted by admin1 on Mon, 10/05/2020 - 14:00

DROUGHT EXERCISE - Afternoon simulated Potomac flow and demand update (Wednesday 10/05/2020) - DROUGHT EXERCISE

Yesterday's basin-wide average precipitation (above Little Falls):
0 inches
(based on CO-OP's Low Flow Forecast System analysis of MARFC gridded quantitative precipitation estimates)

2019 Annual WMA Drought Exercise, Morning Potomac flow and demand update (Thursday 2019-11-21)

Submitted by admin1 on Thu, 11/21/2019 - 09:00

This is Day 2 of the annual Washington metropolitan area (WMA) drought exercise. The exercise scenario appears below. During the exercise, WMA water suppliers are sending data on withdrawals and reservoir levels twice daily, and ICPRB CO-OP staff are communicating via phone with supplier operations staff regarding requested operational changes.

EXERCISE SCENARIO

2019 Annual WMA Drought Exercise, Afternoon Potomac flow and demand update (Wednesday 2019-11-20)

Submitted by admin1 on Wed, 11/20/2019 - 09:00

NOTE: In our twice daily reports for the 2019 exercise we are reporting ACTUAL basin flows and system withdrawals, and SIMULATED recommended operations

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ACTUAL CONDITIONS REPORTED BELOW

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