by Tracy Chamberlin

Mud season came a little early at McPhee Reservoir. With water levels so low the lake bottom is slowly being exposed, some Southwest Colorado off-road vehicle enthusiasts are thinking about playing in the mud.

“We actually received some calls asking if it was appropriate for them to go out there,” said Derek Padilla, the Dolores Public Lands Office District Ranger. His response to that request was “no.”

Padilla’s main concern is about the potential archeological treasures that could be sitting just beneath the surface.

Historically, the area was home to Native American peoples who hunted and lived on the lands now covered by water. Thousands of archeological sites and artifacts were catalogued during construction of the reservoir in the 1980s, but its unknown how much remains undiscovered. McPhee’s waters could be hiding some historical artifacts and as the water level drops, they could become exposed.

The situation of dropping water levels is similar across Colorado. But the below-average snowpack and persistent drought conditions have combined to create unique challenges on the mud flats of McPhee.

For Padilla, this mud-bogging debate is a first. He’s been with the Dolores Public Lands Office for about a year, but it’s been 10 years since the water level was low enough to expose the muddy banks. The archeological issues are primary, but environmental concerns could also surface if officials don’t try to keep the four-wheeling at bay.

Currently, the reservoir is at its third-lowest level since the McPhee Dam was put in place in 1985, according to Mike Preston, general manager for the Dolores Water Conservancy District, who remembers those years. 4 And this rekindles old quandaries as well, like how to prepare users for potential shortages this spring.

Back in 2002 and 2003, extremely dry conditions resulted in a difficult fire season, highlighted by the Missionary Ridge and Valley fires, and water shortages for some of the stakeholders in the McPhee Reservoir. Preston doesn’t anticipate that kind of shortage for 2013. “We’re not really headed for 2002, 2003,” he said. “That was an extremely dry season.”

Torn up turf at the upstream end of McPhee Reservoir. Currently, the reservoir is at its third-lowest level since the McPhee Dam was put in place in 1985./Photo by Steve Eginoire

Besides, stakeholders did get water back then; it just wasn’t the full amount they would have gotten if the reservoir was at capacity.
Stakeholders could see a similar, although not as severe, scenario this year. McPhee is currently 100,000 acre feet below what the level was at this time in 2012, and 52 feet lower in elevation than what it’s able to hold at full capacity.

Preston’s current focus is to make sure everyone is notified in real time about what the levels are.

“We’re in the position of planning for the worst and hoping for the best,” he said.

The worst means planning for potential shortages. Preston wants to keep all those who depend on water from McPhee informed, so they can make their own plans moving forward.

The reservoir had enough water from years past to meet its obligations last year, but 2012 was too dry to replenish the reserves.

Municipal users get priority, so the fishery, recreationists and irrigators could see a smaller percentage than what they would get it the reservoir was full. Preston wants to make sure they know what’s coming.

The best case is that the moisture will come. “If we just get some really big storms in February and March that whole perspective could change,” he added.

Without those big storms, reservoir storage levels across Colorado could continue to drop. Statewide the storage levels are 68 percent of the average and only 38 percent of capacity.

McPhee Reservoir isn’t the only one taking a hit below the waterline.

The entire state of Colorado is dry, with 95 percent of it suffering from severe drought. The National Resources Conservation Service reported that after much-needed snow fell in December, state snowpack levels jumped from just 36 percent of an average to 70 percent.

“So far this winter season has been dominated by high pressure weather systems and a jet stream that has not cooperated,” the NRCS stated in its monthly snow survey.

Snowpack levels across its Southwest Region, which includes the San Miguel, Animas, Dolores and San Juan river systems, are 84 percent of last year’s levels. And that wasn’t a banner year for snow or rainfall. The National Climatic Data Center called 2012 the warmest year on record by a wide margin.

Coming off that record-setting year, what the state really needs is an influx of precipitation. With snow in the forecast for the coming week, area residents and water managers are keeping their fingers crossed.

“There’s potential for good snowstorms and snowpack to build in February and March,” Preston said. “Sometimes that’s the best precipitation.”