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COLORADO WATER SUPPLY OUTLOOK REPORT MAY 1,2003 Summary For most of northern Colorado, April brought additional snowfall to mountain locations, either adding to the total snowpack or at least delaying the melt until later in the month. Most of the April snowpack improvements occurred in those basins where recent improvements had already boosted the snowpack totals; while dryer portions of the state saw only a continuation of that pattern. Runoff forecasts for 2003 across most of the state are below average. Colorado continues to have basin$ that will face severe drought conditions this summer. Reservoir storage is extremely poor across most of the state, and little to no improvement is expected this year. Snowpack April snowfall continued to favor Colorado's northern mountains and Front Range. However, only the North Platte Basin ended the month of April with more snow water equivalent than at the beginning of the month. In all other basins the snowmelt was greater than the increases, causing those basins to end the month with less snow water equivalent than they began the month. Statewide, Colorado's snowpack on May 1 was 87% of average, and is well over four times last year's May 1 snowpack. According to SNOTEL data the state's peak: snowpack was reached on April 10 at 93% of the average peak: accumulation. Across southwestern Colorado, April's weather patterns brought no relief to drought-like conditions. Snowfall was extremely limited and wann, dry, and windy conditions induced snowmelt and sublimation at a rapid pace. By month's end, the snowpack percentages across the southwestern basins had decreased significantly. The lowest snowpack percentages in the state are reported in the San Juan, Animas, Dolores, and San Miguel basins at only 51 % of average. Additionally, the Rio Grande and Gunnison basins are reporting only 56% and 66% of average, respectively. While these conditions are not as dramatic as last year's, they present significant challenges to water users, especially considering the lack of reservoir storage. In all basins except those three mentioned previously, this year's May 1 snowpack is the highest, as a percent of average, since 1997. Throughout the Colorado and the North and South Platte basins, this year's snowpack is the first above average snowpack measured on May 1 since 1997. The South Platte Basin continues to report the highest percent of average snowpack in the state at 109% of average.