Snowpack above average, C-BT storage rebuilding
By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News
Quite unlike what was predicted, Colorado has enjoyed a good snow year.
Statewide, snowpack as of April 28 stood at 118 percent of average.
The southern mountains got hammered with snow early this winter, and the
northern snowpack is above average thanks to good early snow and some good
storms in April. On April 28, snowpack in the South Platte Basin, which
includes the Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson Rivers, was 104 percent of
average.
Mike Gillespie, snow survey supervisor for Colorado, said cool spring weather
has been positive for the snowpack, allowing snow to melt gradually so
more of it can be utilized.
The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which manages the Colorado-Big
Thompson project, set its quota for the year in April. The quota is 70
percent, up 10 percent from the initial quota set last November. "The 70
percent quota gives us the opportunity to continue building our reserves,"
said NCWCD Director Jerry Winters.
Still in recovery from recent years of drought, C-BT storage is below normal
at 84 percent of average. Lake Granby, the system's largest reservoir,
is at 43 percent of capacity, down slightly from the same time last year.
Water storage in the northern part of Larimer County is looking better
than last year, according to Steve Smith, manager of North Poudre Irrigation
Co. The NPIC reservoirs currently hold about 5,000 acre-feet more water
than at this time last year, he said.
In April NPIC set its annual appropriation at 4 acre-feet per share, up
from last year's 3.5 acre-feet.
Also in April, Fort Collins made a decision on how much water it would
rent back to farmers in northern Larimer County. The city is a principal
shareholder in NPIC. When it does not need all of its water, it rents some
back to farmers and other landowners in the NPIC service area.
This year, Fort Collins will rent back 12,000 acre-feet of water, up from
last year's 8,400 acre-feet. The price was set at $35 per acre-foot, up
from $30 last year.
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