Snowstorm helps, but reservoirs still below normal

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

The snowstorm on Thanksgiving weekend brought smiles to skiers and gave a nice boost to snowpack figures throughout Colorado. Following the storm, the state as a whole stood at 112 percent of average snowpack. The South Platte Basin, which includes the Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson rivers, was measured at 109 percent of average. By comparison, the southwest mountains enjoyed snowpacks of 130 to 140 percent of average.

"The northern part of the state is not looking as good as the south," said Mike Gillespie, snow survey supervisor for the state. However, he added, early snowpack figures are not too revealing, since March and April are the biggest snow months in Colorado.

The reservoir picture is still worrisome to water managers, with reservoirs in the Colorado-Big Thompson system less than half full. "You won't hear us say we're out of the drought until we're at average or above," said Brian Werner, spokesperson for the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. At the end of November, the reservoirs were 46 percent full and 84 percent of normal. They were also 9 percent lower than last year.

Lake Granby, the largest reservoir in the system, is the biggest hole that needs filling, standing at 100,000 acre-feet below normal. "We haven't caught up yet," Werner said, adding that it will take a couple of years of above-average snowpack to bring the reservoirs back to normal.

Normal water storage in Granby, Carter Lake and Horsetooth Reservoir is 406,000 acre-feet at the end of November. In 2002, the buckets were very low at 156,000 acre-feet. Year 2003 saw a good jump to 375,000 acre-feet, due to the big March snowstorm and the fact that usage that year was at a record low. This year, there are 343,000 acre-feet in the system.

Horsetooth has above-average water storage this fall, because the reservoir was filled to capacity last spring to test the reconstructed dams. That water came out of Lake Granby, and there weren't enough inflows to replace it. "We need some great snows this year and some inflows into that system," Werner said.

In Wellington, the North Poudre Irrigation Co. reported that its reservoirs are about 2,000 acre-feet ahead of last year, which was an average fall for storage. The moisture in September and October helped to recoup some storage water, according to manager Steve Smith. Of the system's 17 reservoirs, five were drawn down to empty, he said, since there is less shrink when the available water is kept in fewer reservoirs.

One of NPIC's dry reservoirs is No. 3, which supplies water to Wellington. The company is conducting repairs to the reservoir, Smith explained, so the town is using its wells as a backup supply.