From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
The Pueblo Board of Water Works will discuss two drought-related issues Tuesday at its monthly board meeting. Former City Councilman Ray Aguilera will talk to the board about his concerns for Lake Minnequa. “We’re paying more in stormwater fees for the pipeline into Lake Minnequa,” Aguilera said. “Can’t we find a way to get more water into it?” Aguilera pushed for creation of a city park, using state lottery funds to help develop it.
The water board is constructing a $1 million pipeline into the lake from St. Charles reservoirs at Stem Beach. The city is repaying the water board through stormwater fees. However, the agreement among the city, the water board and the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District does not require the water board to fill the lake. Water from the Lower Ark is supposed to pass through the lake, but during the drought of the past three years, the lake level has dropped below the discharge pipe that returns water to the Arkansas River.
The water board will also look at its drought policy on Tuesday. A proposal for a new policy would look at achieving targeted water use by up to 50 percent by limiting outdoor watering. Four stages are outlined in the new plan. They range from encouraging wise use, but not limiting outdoor water use; two-day weekly watering that saves 15 percent; one-day weekly watering that saves 30 percent; and no outdoor watering that saves 50 percent. So far, there are no restrictions on Pueblo watering.
Snowpack is at about two-thirds of average in the Arkansas River and Colorado River basins, which supply Pueblo’s water. Streamflows for the year are estimated to be about half of average, which should keep Pueblo’s senior water rights in priority. However, the water board could look at restrictions if, as in 2002, more senior ditch rights call out Pueblo’s rights.
From the National Weather Service Grand Junction office:
THE FOLLOWING ARE PRELIMINARY SNOW REPORTS, AS ESTIMATED BASED ON READINGS FROM REMOTE INSTRUMENTATION SCATTERED THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. THE SNOW FELL DURING THE 24 HOURS ENDING AT 5 AM SUNDAY MORNING.
IN WESTERN COLORADO,
THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS, 6 TO 12 INCHES.
THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS, 6 TO 12INCHES
THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS, 2 TO 6 INCHES.
IN EASTERN UTAH,
THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS, 2 TO 5 INCHES.
THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS, 2 TO 5 INCHES.
THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS, UP TO 2 INCHES.
From the Summit County Citizens Voice (Bob Berwyn):
Mother Nature saved her best for late in the season, as a mid-April storm dropped more than 12 inches of snow across the Colorado mountains, as well as some beneficial rain along the Front Range.
The potent storm blew in on the nose of the jet stream, with a strong and moist northwest flow blasting through the mountains Saturday night. Many areas reported their biggest single-storm snow totals for the entire season, including downtown Frisco, where 7 inches piled up overnight.
