From the Fort Collins Coloradoan (Bobby Magill):

Moderate drought conditions have returned to Northern Colorado after several weeks of warm, dry weather, according to this week’s Colorado Climate Center drought update.

For the last few weeks, climatologists have classified Northern Colorado as merely “abnormally dry” because of large amounts of snow and rain in April and May.

“June for the Front Range has been pretty dry,” said meteorologist Don Day, Jr., of DayWeather in Cheyenne. “It didn’t take much for us to slip back into (drought).”

Though some areas of the Front Range have seen some rain and severe weather in recent weeks, it hasn’t accomplished much to ease drought conditions because much of the rain water has run off instead of infiltrating into the soil, according to the Colorado Climate Center report…

Poudre River flows at the Poudre Canyon mouth peaked on June 9, two days earlier than the historical average.

Colorado-Big Thompson Project reservoirs, which supply Fort Collins and more than 800,000 other Colorado residents with water, are filling, but they are far from full.

The project’s biggest reservoir, Lake Granby, was 64 percent full on Wednesday, while Horsetooth Reservoir was nearly 80 percent full.

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

Pueblo boosted its water storage by about 25 percent during a brief, fast spring runoff this year. “We reached peak runoff last week,” Water Resources Manager Alan Ward told the Pueblo Board of Water Works Tuesday. “Our brief, but welcome runoff is on its way out.”

The water board’s goal this year was to replenish water supplies that dipped after a very dry 2012. While precipitation in Pueblo has been even less than last year, this year’s snowpack was heavier and lasted longer. “Runoff came later than in recent years, but mid-June is closer to normal,” Ward said.

Pueblo now has about 36,000 acre-feet in storage — more than a year’s supply — and added 7,000 acre-feet in the first two weeks of June.

While Pueblo benefits from runoff in the Arkansas River basin, it also imports water from the Colorado River, and most of the gain has been from its own ditches and tunnels that bring water across the Continental Divide, as well as the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. Snowpack in both basins is up this year.

The Arkansas River, as measured at Wellsville just downstream from Salida, peaked on June 12 at 2,900 cubic feet per second.

The Fry-Ark Project has brought over 38,100 acre-feet for use in the Arkansas Valley this year, and is on pace to deliver an estimated 47,231 acre-feet, said Roy Vaughan, project manager for the Bureau of Reclamation.

From the Loveland Reporter-Herald:

Loveland Water and Power is calling on all city water customers to do their part to help “Shave the Peak” this summer.

Businesses and residents are asked to follow a voluntary watering schedule that’s designed to help shave peak demand for water during what are typically the highest water use weeks of the summer.

The program, which the city has used for the past two years, started Monday and will run through Aug. 31. Water customers are asked to adopt an even/odd watering schedule to spread out the use of water throughout the city, with addresses ending in odd numbers watering on odd days of the month. Addresses ending in even numbers should water on even numbers of the month.

Trees, flowers, gardens, shrubs and sub-irrigation/drip systems are exempt from the watering schedule.

Those who are unable to set sprinklers on an odd/even schedule should water on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday if it’s an even address. Addresses ending in odd numbers should water on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Summer produces the largest demand for treated water, amounting to heavier demand on Loveland’s Water Treatment plant. The plant processes about 28 million gallons a day at peak times compared to only 6 million gallons per day in winter months.

For more information about “Shave the Peak” or tips for conserving water, visit http://www.cityofloveland.org/conservation.