The draft document is under internal review now and will be available within a month for comments from outside agencies and interests. Two more years of effort on the Wood River and tributaries are needed to file for IF water rights on important stream segments containing Yellowstone cutthroat trout. The petition to list the Yellowstone cutthroat trout under the endangered species act was recently found to be unwarranted in a FWS 90-day finding. The drought task force met on March 27th to review the drought outlook for the year. Snow pack is low in almost every area of the state and streamflow predictions are also below average across the state.
Annual precipitation is below normal at almost every station.
The drought outlook is not good, although April and May still could provide relief. The data he referred to is located in the Bureau's agency report above. Mr. Lawson implied that the North Platte system should be able to stay close to normal operating procedures, but the Wind, Bighorn, and Shoshone basins are facing tougher times. Last year was below average for inflows and this year's forecasts are showing poor inflows. Hence, much of the stored water from the wetter years prior to last year will be depleted this year leaving no left over storage for next year.