Future Effects of the CAP on Lake Havasu's Thermal Regime

Abstract

A temperature-stratification model developed by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hydrologic Engineering Center, was used to predict the changes in the temperature profile of Lake Havasu on the Colorado River near Parker, Arizona, that may occur with the withdrawal of Central Arizona Project (CAP) water in the 1980's. This quantified change in temperature-dependent density stratification was calculated using maximum withdrawal conditions to accentuate and expose any major changes which could be potential problems. Inputs for this program include monthly evaporation and precipitation, monthly average air temperature, solar radiation at the top of the atmosphere, water inflow amount and temperature, water outflow amount and location, water temperature profiles, and physical reservoir data. In the calibration of the model, the five coefficients were found to differ slightly from regional coefficients established by the Hydrologic Engineering Center, Davis, California, and coefficients established in a previous study. End of month temperature profiles were then generated for average meteorological conditions, both with and without maximum CAP flow. The computed results indicate that the stratification changes will be of low magnitude.