Weekend storm a boost, but snowpack remains low

Weekend storm a boost, but snowpack remains low

April 10, 2001

APRIL 8 high-mountain snowpack readings got a boost from the weekend storm, but lower-than-average runoff remains in the forecast.

A spring storm last weekend added half an inch of moisture to the mountain snowpack, but it wasn’t nearly enough to bring it up to normal.

John Porter, general manager of the Dolores Water Conservancy District, has said that it’s anybody’s guess whether rafters can expect a spill below McPhee Dam this year, because actual runoff can fluctuate 25 percent on either side of the April 1 projections.

"Right now," Porter said, "it does not appear that McPhee will spill this year."

The lake is rising, although cold weekend temperatures slowed the snowmelt, and water managers predict adequate water for this year’s irrigation season.

SNOTEL READINGS

Precipitation over the weekend brought the reading at the high-mountain measuring sites in the Dolores River drainage to 84 percent of the long-term average, up from 76 percent last week. The highest reading this season was 89 percent of the average on March 19.

Last year at this time, the snowpack was 91 percent of average and held 15 inches of water. In 1999, the snowpack was at 48 percent of average, with only 7.1 inches of moisture. The snowpack has been above average only three times in the past nine years, most recently in 1997.

The lower measuring sites, which are not automated, are read monthly. On April 1, those five sites averaged 58 percent of normal moisture, with a high of 71 percent at Belmear Mountain and a low of 28 percent at the Salter Y.

Elsewhere in the San Juan drainage, the snowpack was somewhat higher, averaging 92 percent of normal on April 1. Only the Rio Grande basin has an above average snowpack — 102 percent — while other drainages range between 78 and 86 percent.