Reservoir Operation During Drought

Book excerpt: During the past 25 years, the U.S. has experienced two of its most severe droughts: One in the Northeast in 1962-1967; and the other during 1975-1977 in the Great Plains and the states along the West Coast. Many of the water supply systems in these areas are based upon surface reservoir storage. This report discusses the drought response of three regional reservoir systems within these drought impacted areas. Both single reservoir and multiple reservoir operations are examined. The study areas are the Potomac River and the Delaware Basins (both on the East Coast), and the state of California. The reservoir systems of these regions are chosen for study for several reasons. First, they are hydrologically diverse. California is an arid region. The Delaware and Potomac basins are humid. Secondly, all three are technically, institutionally, and politically complex. Studying complex reservoir systems is more beneficial than studying simpler reservoir because issues involved in drought operation of a large reservoir system are broader in scope and can be narrowed to apply to smaller systems. Thirdly, the droughts in these areas were severe and the impacts of their water supply management were widely felt. Finally, drought operation plans have been developed for almost all of the reservoir systems studied as a result of their drought experience.