From KUNC (Jackie Fortier):

“To have our snowpack where it is right now for the state is a really good position to be in going forward for water supplies into the spring and summer,” said Brian Domonkos, Colorado snow survey supervisor and hydrologist…

According to Domonkos, a strong snowpack is great news for farmers and water utilities, though it could change in the next few months.

“At this point we are about 50 percent done with our snow accumulation season. We could dry out to some degree, and we may not be quite as high for snowpack when the peak snowpack comes around in late April early May,” he said.

Colorado could see a record snowpack this spring — a situation Domonkos said was unimaginable in just November — but it could come with a price.

“As with any year that you have high snowpack, it all depends on how it melts,” he said.

“If it melts gradually that’s more what you want to see. Soils become saturated and then you can have a nice steady runoff and that provides a steady water supply through the summer.”

But under the right conditions, flooding could pose a problem later in the year for parts of the state.

“If we have a very high snowpack late into spring and then off a sudden temperatures warm up really quick and we have potential rain on snow events, then we can worry about very high [stream and river] flows,” Domonkos said.

At this point in the season, reservoirs across Colorado are at average levels. If they fill up too early, in the season more water will be sent downstream.

From The Fort Collins Coloradoan (Jacy Marmaduke):

Colorado snowpack just saw its fastest turnaround in more than 30 years.

That’s a big deal for Fort Collins, which mainly relies on snowpack for its water supply and has been in a severe drought since August.

The story sounds like something out of a heartwarming underdog movie: By Nov. 17, 2016, Colorado’s water year was off to the worst start in more than three decades as a stubborn high-pressure ridge remained camped out over the Front Range. Snowpack in the South Platte River Basin, which supplies much of Fort Collins’ water, was about half of the average amount.

Just as hope waned, the high-pressure ridge began to break down, allowing the jet stream to meander into Colorado’s mountains and fill them to and in some place over the brim with snow. Several snowstorms have dropped 5 to 8 feet of snow since mid-November. And it’s been good, wet snow, too, which is even better for spring runoff.

South Platte Basin snowpack sat at 158 percent of normal Thursday morning. Statewide, we’re at 155 percent. The statewide rate of snowpack accumulation between Nov. 17 to Jan. 1 was the fastest Colorado has seen in 32 years, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service…

Heavy snowpack is great for spring water supply, agriculture and winter recreation. But [Treste Huse] can’t help but worry just a little about enhanced flood risk. If inordinately high snowpack persists, rivers like the Poudre and the Big Thompson are in for major runoff come spring.

That’s not coming anytime soon, though, so conditions can — and likely will — change. Huse said NWS predicts a decent chance of normal or above-normal precipitation during the next few months.

“It’s been a roller coaster ride,” she said of Colorado’s snowpack. “You never know what’s gonna happen next.”

From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Dennis Webb):

U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton is hoping to play a bigger legislative role on natural-resource issues facing Colorado and the West as a result of a committee appointment announced Friday.

Tipton, R-Colo., learned he will serve on the House Committee on Natural Resources for the next two years, returning to a panel he was a part of from 2011 to 2014…

“I’m honored and excited to be back on the Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over many of the issues that impact the Third District of Colorado on a daily basis,” he said in a news release. “While I’ve continued to push for policies that protect water and private property rights, and support responsible energy development and public land management as Vice Chair of the Western Caucus, I’m pleased to have more of a direct role in the legislative process surrounding issues like these and many others.”

[…]

While previously on the Natural Resources Committee, Tipton introduced the Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act, which Congress passed and President Obama signed into law.

He long has fought what he says are the federal government’s attempts to circumvent state water law, seeking passage of his Water Rights Protection Act. Repeatedly passing the House, that measure has yet to be taken up by the Senate.

Other natural-resource legislative initiatives Tipton has been pushing have included a bill he says would foster healthy forest management and help the state of Colorado protect communities from wildfires on national forests.

He also has advocated what he calls an all-of-the-above approach to energy development, involving both traditional and renewable energy sources.