Click the link to read the article on the KSL.com website (Carter Williams, KSL.com). Here’s an excerpt:
March 20, 2024
Lake Powell is projected to receive about 5.4 million acre-feet of water based on conditions this winter, National Weather Service’s Colorado Basin River Forecast Center officials said on Friday. That would hoist the reservoir from 32% to 37% capacity after the snowmelt process wraps up in the early summer. The reservoir gained about 65 feet in water levels last spring, jumping from 21% to 38% capacity following last year’s record snowpack. If this year’s projections come to fruition, it would also be close to the reservoir peak in 2021. It would also be much lower than the 2010s average peak…
The center’s projections are based on a possible inflow of 85% of normal. Snowpack levels are generally between 85% and 130% of normal across the Upper Colorado River Basin region, and 120% and 125% across the Great Basin, Colorado Basin River Forecast Center officials wrote in a water supply report Tuesday. Officials clarified on social media the lower inflows are tied to drier conditions within the Green River and San Juan river basins, which flow into the Colorado River upstream of Lake Powell. They also said inflows were nearly twice the normal last year, which is why the reservoir gained so much in a short period.
