Snowpack across Southwest Colorado is at the highest level since 2008.
The San Miguel, Mancos, Dolores, Animas, La Plata and San Juan river basins all are above 100 percent of normal snowpack, according to a report from the Natural Resources Conservation Services. The report was released Friday but based on data compiled April 1.
“It’s a good feeling, it’s kind of like money in the bank,” said Jerry Archuleta, an NRCS district conservationist based in Pagosa Springs.
After leading the state for most of the winter, all of Southwest Colorado has above normal snowpack, he said.
The Mancos River basin is leading the region at 144 percent of normal and the San Miguel River basin had the lowest with 114 percent of normal. The Animas River basin is 120 percent of normal.
“From a standpoint of having ample water supply, I think your area is very well set up,” said Karl Wetlaufer, a hydrologist with the NRCS.
However, the snowpack could be tricky to manage because the reservoirs in the area also are at above-normal levels, Wetlaufer said.
Reservoir managers must balance releasing water and maintaining storage, he said.
Across the state, warm weather in March started an earlier than normal snow melt, but storms at the end of March helped slow the runoff, the report said.
From March 11 through March 19, the Animas River flows far exceeded the historical average, but they have returned to normal, Wetlaufer said. A cool spring would hold the snowpack in place for irrigation and other uses, Archuleta said. But he expects higher than average flows this spring.
A snowstorm March 30-31 deposited quite a bit of dust on the southern San Juans that could accelerate the melting of snow, Wetlaufer said.
It was an unusual snow season for Southwest Colorado because it started late and most of the snow fell in December and January. The snowfall in January for the region was almost 250 percent of normal.
During March, historically a wet time of the year, the region received only 67 percent of the snow it would normally expect.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
