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| With low reservoir levels, farmers and ranchers relying on irrigation might be getting less water than they were hoping for this spring and summer./Photo by Steve Eginoire |
Water world
Prolonged drought conditions take a bite out of reservoir storage
by Tracy Chamberlin
With persistent drought conditions across Colorado and low reservoir levels in the southwest, water resource managers are looking at a potentially long and arid summer.
With persistent drought conditions across Colorado and low reservoir levels in the southwest, water resource managers are looking at a potentially long and arid summer.
Following a dry 2012, the warmest year on record, reservoir levels were already on the low side. Reservoir storage exactly one year ago sat at 104 percent of average, which helped the area get through late summer shortages.
Currently, it’s only 67 percent of the average and 64 percent of last year, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s monthly snow survey.
“The reservoirs are the insurance,” said Ryan Christianson, chief of the Southern Water Management Group for the Bureau of Reclamation.
Storage levels are down in all of the area’s reservoirs, according to officials from the Bureau of Reclamation. Lemon had 13,962 acre feet of storage in 2012 and now sits at 7,829 acre feet. McPhee was at 287,844 a year ago; the current storage is 188,976 acre feet. And, Vallecito is less than two-thirds what it was last year.
Other areas in the United States enjoyed some big storms this season, like severe winter storms in the northeast that practically shut down major cities like Boston. But the West wasn’t so fortunate.
“What fell in the West didn’t really amount to much,” said hydrologist Tom Perkins in an NRCS report. “New Mexico, Utah and Colorado are especially vulnerable because their reservoirs are at low levels due to sustained drought conditions.”
Less than 1 percent of Coloradoans suffered from extreme drought conditions in March 2012. Today that number is more than 48 percent. Severe drought covered 8 percent of the state, and now it’s almost 90 percent.
And although much of the state got a boost from the February storms one area that did not was the southwest. The San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan Basin, which includes the Durango area, saw a decline in its snowpack of 5 percentage points from the February readings.
The area snowpack is 83 percent of the average and 89 percent of last year, according to the snow survey. The data collected for the survey “reflects what the state can expect for surface waters supplies this coming spring and summer.”
The official forecast predicts below average streamflows and below average water supply conditions for rivers in the West, lessening the chance that reservoirs could be replenished. Perkins said this meant there would be difficult decisions ahead for water resource managers.
The key factor for those managers is communication. Mike Preston, general manager for the Dolores Water Conservancy District, is keeping those relying on McPhee Reservoir in the know.
Preston said that last year McPhee had about 100,000 acre feet more than it does today. Those dependent upon McPhee water for irrigation need to know what to expect for the spring and summer.
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Farm and Ranch Enterprise, a 7,700-acre agricultural project headquartered in Towaoc, and the Dolores Project irrigators both rely on McPhee. Those groups are potentially looking at about one-third less water this year than they would typically get.
Farmers and ranchers would need to make choices, like whether to spread irrigation water out thinner or substitute some crops for those that require less water. The low levels also mean there’s less water to release for the fishery pools.
Although the official start to spring has already passed, it’s not too late for old man winter to drop some white gold in the southwest. Preston said if the area gets a significant storm in the high country, about a foot or two, it could make a difference.
Any moisture that falls would help curb the southwest’s thirst. Rainfall later in the season might not help to replenish the reservoirs but it could reduce the demand, which would help to extend the supply.
The one thing it won’t help is the boating community. “There’s not going to be a spill this year,” Preston said.
Like last year, there just isn’t enough water to release downstream for kayakers and other whitewater enthusiasts. The focus for 2013 is on irrigation and municipalities.
Still, the numbers leading off the spring and summer seasons still don’t compare to the record lows of 2002, the year of the Missionary Ridge Fire.
“Mother Nature’s really in charge here,” Preston said.
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