Runoff
March 12, 2010--Upper Colorado River Basin snowpack second lowest since 1992 (Sky Hi Daily News)
As a result of decent storm activity during the third weekend of February, snowpacks in the Upper Colorado River Basin improved slightly from 72 percent of average last month to 79 percent of average on March 1. This is the second lowest March 1 snowpack percentage the basin has seen going all the way back to 1992. Only March 1, 2002, with 68 percent of average snowpacks, was lower.
March 12, 2010--Water shortages may hit northern Rockies (USA Today)
Much of the nation may be snow-weary, but farmers and ranchers who rely on winter snowpack in the northern Rockies for irrigation during the dry months of the growing season could face water shortages this summer unless more snow arrives soon.
February 23, 2010--Road salt melts snow, but it contaminates groundwater and damages habitats (Washington Post)
We toss more than 20 million tons of sodium chloride on our roadways every winter. That's about 13 times more salt than is used by the entire food processing industry. Salt lowers the freezing temperature of water and thus melts street-clogging snow and ice.
February 19, 2010--Low spring runoff, low flood threat in forecast (Grand Junction Sentinel)
The Colorado River isn’t expected to swell in water volume as much as normal during the upcoming spring runoff, according to a National Weather Service forecast. Also, flood potential because of melting snow is not high for now for most of western Colorado and eastern Utah, according to the agency’s spring flood and water resources outlook.
February 4, 2010--Spring runoff expected to be below average (Aspen Daily News)
This winter’s below average snowfall, as one might expect, indicates there could be a low runoff this spring. “The outlook for runoff in the Upper Colorado, North Platte, Yampa, White and South Platte rivers continues to call for well below average flows,” said Allen Green, state conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a department of the U.S.
January 27, 2010--High stakes snow speculation: Gauging our water future (Crested Butte News)
As of January 25, the snow-water equivalent totals for the Gunnison River Basin were at 97 percent of average, according to data from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The Gunnison Basin stretches over 8,000 square miles of western Colorado, extending from the Continental Divide to the confluence of the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers near Grand Junction.
January 19, 2010-- Snowpack dangerously close to drought levels (Colorado Independent)
Badly needed snowfall is expected in Colorado’s high country this week, but one expert says the state will need much more than the amount in the forecast to stave off drought on par with the one that marked the parched year of 2002, which saw reservoirs depleted to record-low levels and raging wildfires.
January 13, 2010--January snowpack lowest since 2002 (Sky-Hi Daily News)
On Nov. 1, SNOTEL data indicated basin snowpacks were over 130 percent of average. Unfortunately, a poor showing during November resulted in a drop in snowpack percentages by Dec. 1 to a mere 65 percent of average.
January 10, 2010--Forecasts expect runoff to be low in New Mexico rivers (Durango Herald)
Spring runoff is expected to be below average in New Mexico's two major river systems this spring, according to National Weather Service forecasts. The Rio Grande is expected to see only 91 percent of average runoff into Elephant Butte Reservoir north of Truth or Consequences, according to Ed Polasko of the NWS.
December 17, 2009--Helping Mother Nature (Durango Herald)
A Durango consultant who takes action on a subject most people only talk about - the weather - is one of the protagonists in a film shown Sunday at the global-warming conference in Copenhagen.
