Click the link to read the article on The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel website (Dennis Webb). Here’s an excerpt:
April 3, 2024
Statewide snowpack on Tuesday [April 2, 2024] stood at 109% of median, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Snowpack, which is a measurement of the water equivalent of the snow, ranged Tuesday from 104% in the combined San Miguel/Dolores/Animas/San Juan river basins in southwest Colorado…
to 121% in the Arkansas River Basin.
The Colorado River Basin headwaters stood at 108% of normal,…
…and the Gunnison River Basin, 105%. Snowpack accumulation in southern Colorado basins typically peak around the start of April, and more northern basins usually peak days or weeks later. NRCS data shows snowpack at 85% of median at one site on Grand Mesa and 96% at two other sites there. Dave Kanzer, director of science and interstate matters for the Western Slope’s Colorado River District, said this year’s snowpack is spotty and highly variable…
However, the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center’s latest forecast is projecting April-July flows into Lake Powell this year to be 85% of normal. That’s at a time when low water levels in Powell and downstream in Lake Mead due to long-term drought and heavy use of water are of dire concern to southwestern states, water users and the federal government.
