Southeast Colorado Water Supply Update
Russ Baldwin | Jan 21, 2013 | Comments 0
As of January 1, the 2013 snow season began slowly. The National Weather Service reports that Snowpack for the Upper Rio Grande Basin was 65% of average overall, behind last year’s 92% reading. Southeast Colorado had a snowpack report of 61% for the Arkansas Basin, also well behind last year’s reading of 96% of average.
Water year precipitation is running below average across both the Upper Rio Grande and Arkansas Basins. As of January 1, the Upper Rio Grande Basin reported 62% of average precipitation, lower than 114% of average a year ago at that time. The Arkansas Basin reported 61% of average precipitation, lower than 100% of average in the same period last year.
Overall reservoir storage is running well below average across southern Colorado. The Upper Rio Grande Basin at the end of December was 50% of average overall, down from 64% last year at this time and storage for the Arkansas Basin was at 56% of average over all, down from 93% from last year. Streamflows for the upcoming runoff season are predicted to be below average for the Upper Rio Grande and well below average for the Arkansas Basins. Those predictions reflect natural flow only. Actual flow will be affected by upstream water management.
Filed Under: Agriculture • Business • City • County • Featured • Granada • Holly • Lamar • Prowers County • Weather • Wiley
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