From the Desert Research Institute:
DRI and OpenET are partnering with the Upper Colorado River Commission and the Bureau of Reclamation to expand evaporation monitoring on the Upper Colorado River Basin’s largest reservoirs. This summer, new monitoring stations are being established on Flaming Gorge, Blue Mesa, and Navajo Reservoirs. The initiative follows the success of the Lake Powell evaporation monitoring project – one of the longest-running reservoir evaporation monitoring efforts in the Western U.S., which has provided data since 2019. Establishing state of the art weather and evaporation monitoring stations at these reservoirs will directly inform improvements for evaporation models and our understanding of water availability in the Colorado River.
DRI’s evaporation monitoring uses advanced micrometeorological stations that collect continuous observations of weather, water temperature, and calculated evaporation rates. The Reservoir Evaporation Research Team, led by DRI’s Justin Huntington and Chris Pearson, has led numerous open water evaporation data collection and modeling efforts in the Western U.S., including the Bureau of Reclamation’s Open Water Evaporation Network Initiative and a statewide effort to track daily reservoir evaporation rates throughout Texas.
“High-quality, over-water data provide critical benchmarks for validating and refining both satellite-based and gridded weather models, supporting more reliable large-scale evaporation estimates.”
By installing the weather stations on floating platforms directly on the water, DRI’s instrumentation obtains more accurate data than traditional methods that occur on land adjacent to reservoirs. The weather stations transmit measurements in near real-time to DRI portals that allow for the data to be visualized and monitored by researchers and water managers. Specialized equipment known as an eddy covariance station is used to calculate evaporation using high-frequency measurements of water vapor, wind speed and direction in all three spatial dimensions.
For more information about DRI’s research related to the Colorado River, view our Storymap: DRI Science on the Colorado River.
Read the full press release from the Upper Colorado River Commission below:
Upper Colorado River Commission and Bureau of Reclamation Advance Reservoir Evaporation Study Across the Upper Basin
New state-of-the-art evaporation monitoring and data systems improve understanding of reservoir losses
Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Wyo. and Utah, July 9, 2026 — The Upper Division States of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, through the Upper Colorado River Commission (UCRC), in partnership with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), are advancing a multi-reservoir evaporation measurement and monitoring effort that is improving our understanding of reservoir evaporation losses. The effort supports more accurate, data-informed water management throughout the Upper Colorado River Basin.
The Reservoir Evaporation Project focuses on the Upstream Initial Units — Flaming Gorge, Blue Mesa and Navajo reservoirs — and represents a coordinated Upper Basin effort to strengthen scientific understanding of evaporation under increasingly arid conditions.
The project underscores the shared commitment of the Upper Basin states and Reclamation to invest in better science, improved data integration, and collaborative solutions that support long-term reliability and resilience across the Colorado River system.
“Collaboration between Reclamation, the UCRC and the Upper Division States is critical to improving the accuracy and transparency of water data across the Basin,” said Wayne Pullan, Upper Colorado Basin Regional Director for the Bureau of Reclamation. “This study helps strengthen the technical foundation needed for future reservoir operations, forecasting and accounting efforts.”
The study is modeled in part after the long-term evaporation monitoring program at Lake Powell and is intended to provide additional ground-truthing and verification for reservoir evaporation estimates in the Upper Basin. The project supports the development of more refined data sets and methodologies to improve future decision-making.
“This project reflects the Upper Basin’s commitment to providing the best available science to support water management decisions,” said Chuck Cullom, Executive Director of the Upper Colorado River Commission. “As we continue to face the impacts of dry hydrology, improved measurement and verification tools are essential to inform operations, transparent accounting, and collaborative management throughout the Colorado River Basin.”
Commissioners and representatives from the Upper Division States and Reclamation staff recently participated in a field visit at Flaming Gorge Reservoir to review the floating monitoring platform and associated instrumentation being used in the study.
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About DRI
We are Nevada’s non-profit research institute, founded in 1959 to empower experts to focus on science that matters. We work with communities across the state — and the world — to address their most pressing scientific questions. We’re proud that our scientists continuously produce solutions that better human and environmental health.
Scientists at DRI are encouraged to follow their research interests across the traditional boundaries of scientific fields, collaborating across DRI and with scientists worldwide. All faculty support their own research through grants, bringing in nearly $5 to the Nevada economy for every $1 of state funds received. With more than 600 scientists, engineers, students, and staff across our Reno and Las Vegas campuses, we conducted more than $59 million in sponsored research focused on improving peoples’ lives in 2025 alone.
At DRI, science isn’t merely academic — it’s the key to future-proofing our communities and building a better world. For more information, please visit www.dri.edu.
Media Contacts
Elyse DeFranco
Lead Science Writer & Public Information Officer
elyse.defranco@dri.edu
