Snotel readings — automated instruments that measure moisture levels at various locations around 10,000 feet elevation — show that the high country is continuing to dry out a little earlier than usual.

John Porter, the manager of the Dolores Water Conservancy District, said Monday that the Dolores River below McPhee Reservoir peaked Sunday at 2,370 cubic feet per second, a high mark that the river doesn’t usually reach until later in May.

The snotel readings on May 8 indicated that only about 17 percent of the normal amount of moisture for this time of year was present at the automated stations, Porter said.

Other local streams and creeks are also running a little higher than normal, Porter said.

Porter said the official runoff forecast, which is compiled by several state agencies, is for runoff to be about 72 percent of normal due to a lack of storms since the beginning of April.