...On the Rio Grande, New Mexico's largest river, the snowpack forecast is just average--not nearly enough to overcome a deficit at Elephant Butte Reservoir left by years of subpar precipitation and heavy water use...The current forecast comes two-thirds of the way through the winter snowpack season, meaning much could still change before the snow melts. The two major unknowns are how much rain and snow will fall over the next few months, and how badly New Mexico's dry spring winds eat into the snowpack before it has a chance to melt into the state's rivers. The best news comes for people who depend on the Sangre de Cristos for their supply, as their snowpack is substantially above average...For the state's largest reservoir, Elephant Butte is at about 43 percent of normal for this time of year...The San Juan, which supplies water to central New Mexico via the San Juan-Chama diversion, is also forecast to be below average this year.

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