Summit County Citizens Voice

Snow pack is below average in all of Colorado's river basins.

Colorado snowpack the fourth-lowest in the past 30 years

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Despite a dwindling snow pack and no sign of any big storms on the horizon, managers with Colorado’s biggest municipal water provider say they’re not yet concerned about the potential for a low runoff year.

“A lot can happen between now and spring,” said Bob Steger, manager of raw water supplies for Denver Water. Reservoir storage is above average and above last year’s, with the Denver Water system at 90 percent of capacity, compared to the average 83 percent for this time of year, Steger said.

And that’s a good thing, because the statewide snowpack is only at 72 percent of average, with the key Colorado River Basin (encompassing Summit County) only at 63 percent of average.

That’s the fourth-lowest level in the past 30 years, according to Mage Skordahl, assistant snow survey supervisor with the Natural Resource Conservation Service. The only years with lower snowpacks at this point in the season during that 30-year span were 1990, 2000 and 2002, she said.

“When you start out like this, it’s not too often that you end up above average … We’d need to have above average snowfall the rest of the season just to get back to average,” she added.

The South Platte Basin, which is also critical to Denver Water, is looking a bit better, at 85 percent, but the high-elevation Colorado River Basin is critical to refilling reservoirs during the spring and summer.

The healthy reservoir levels are in part due to Denver Water’s customers using the resource wisely, along with last summer’s abundant runoff. Last summer, Dillon finally filled July 27, the latest date on record. The last time Dillon Reservoir didn’t fill to capacity was in 2004, the third in a string of years when it didn’t fill up completely.

Denver Water isn’t anywhere close to dusting of any emergency plans yet, but the utility is carefully watching the snowpack and reporting conditions to the Denver Water Board.

Similarly, state officials are also watching the statewide snowpack carefully, hoping they don’t have to resort to a drought response plan that was updated last year.

“We always manage our reservoirs to keep them as full as we can,” Steger said, adding that releases from Dillon Reservoir are currently at about 53 cfs, just a hair above the required minimum instream flow of 50 cfs.

While officials still seem sanguine at this point, Scott Hummer, the former Blue River Basin water commissioner for the State Engineer’s Office, said that, if he were still wearing that hat, he’d be starting to get concerned about long-term water supplies if the current weather trend continues.

With Colorado always just one dry away from a drought, Hummer said that, if the season ends up with a snow pack at levels close to where it is right now, storage levels could drop to below normal by the middle of next summer. And conversely, the state is just one or two good snowstorms away from getting back to at least near-normal snowpack levels.

Additionally, there is anecdotal evidence that early snows play a key role in building a dense snowpack that melts off slowly in the spring, extending the runoff season and making things easier on irrigators who rely on ditches filled with snowmelt to sustain ranching and haying operations.

Troy Wineland, the new Blue River Water Commissioner, said he’s definitely scratching his head about the upcoming irrigation season, but hoping that a predicted return to a snowy La Niña pattern could help boost the snowpack back toward average.

“Whether we’re going to recover to average or above is the question,” he concluded.

Filed under: climate and weather, Colorado, Dillon Reservoir, La Niña, seasons, Snow and weather, Summit County news, Summit County snow and weather Tagged: | Colorado snowpack, Denver Water, Dillon Reservoir, La Niña, snowpack, Summit County Colorado, water